the number of cases awaiting judgment has fallen by nearly 30% in two years, according to the ministry

The number of cases awaiting judgment in civil justice cases (divorces, decisions on child custody, alimony, etc.), for which the delays are often very long, fell by 28% between January 2021 and January 2023. The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, must formalize these figures during a trip to the Reims judicial court (Marne), Monday February 27.

Almost all first instance courts have seen the stock of pending cases decrease over this period, franceinfo has learned, who has seen the announcements of the Minister of Justice. For the social poles of the courts (which deal in particular with disputes concerning Social Security, access to social assistance or labor law), the drop is 32%.

A new function of legal attaché

According to the ministry, these reductions were made possible by the work of magistrates and clerks, but also of the 2,000 contract workers recruited in 2020 and 2021 to strengthen the courts. The latter will be offered a tenure, if they are still in office.

In order to reduce the average processing time for civil cases from two to one year, Eric Dupond-Moretti will also announce the hiring of 300 legal assistants in 2023. This represents an increase of more than 30% in the workforce.

The Minister of Justice is also going to propose the creation of a function of legal attaché, which will bring together assistant lawyers and other category A contract employees. Responsible in particular for carrying out missions of researching case law and drafting briefing notes. summaries, these legal attachés will be trained at the National School of the Judiciary and will take an oath.