Former Paris prosecutor and former director of criminal affairs and pardons, the magistrate will notably have to manage the possible dismissal of the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti.
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He succeeds François Molins. High magistrate with an impressive CV, Rémy Heitz, 59, will occupy one of the key positions in French justice, that of public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, by decree published on Sunday July 2 in the Official Journal. Former public prosecutor of Paris and ex-director of criminal affairs and pardons at the Ministry of Justice, he was public prosecutor at the Paris Court of Appeal since September 2021.
He will have to manage, in his new eminently political position, the possible dismissal of the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for illegal taking of interest. In this case, he would be responsible for representing the prosecution at the CJR, the only body authorized to judge members of the government for crimes or misdemeanors committed in the exercise of their function. For the time being, the Keeper of the Seals has lodged an appeal against the dismissal order before the CJR.
Target of reviews in September 2021
“His intellectual skills are remarkable”, said of him a magistrate who rubbed shoulders with him. He is “clearly above the fray”, adds this colleague. His only fault, he continues half-heartedly, would be to “have no hobbies”, entirely devoted to his work. His appointment in November 2018 as public prosecutor of Paris, already to succeed François Molins, had created a controversy in the political and judicial world.
By dismissing candidates selected by the Minister of Justice at the time, the Elysée had been accused of having favored his appointment. “These criticisms were unjustified”, had defended Rémy Heitz in September 2021 on the specialized site Dalloz. His management of the “yellow vests” crisis and in particular his note to Parisian prosecutors advocating not to lift police custody until after the demonstrations, even in the event of classification without further action, had also been criticized by unions of magistrates and judges. lawyers.