The reframing of magistrates by Eric Dupond-Moretti is “likely to undermine” the separation of powers, according to the Superior Council of the Judiciary

Marseille magistrates said they had received a private “blast” from the Minister of Justice, furious at comments made during their hearings before the senatorial committee.

The reframing of magistrates by the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti is “of a nature to cause harm” to the separation of powers, deplored the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) on Wednesday April 10. The CSM, a body constitutionally responsible for protecting the independence of justice, received on Tuesday the heads of the Marseille court, who had been reprimanded in mid-March by the minister after their remarks before the senatorial commission of inquiry on the fight against drug trafficking.

On the sidelines of the trip to Marseille with the Head of State Emmanuel Macron on March 19 to launch anti-drug operations “XXL net square”Marseille magistrates had told the Figaro taken in private “a blower” from the minister, furious at comments made during their hearings before the senatorial committee.

“An obligation of sincerity”

The magistrates there, according to the minister, made remarks borrowed from “defeatism” and making “the RN game”, by saying in particular before the commission that he feared being “losing the war against traffickers in Marseille”.

“Following criticism”it is written in the CSM press release in which Eric Dupond-Moretti is not named, “the Superior Council of the Judiciary recalls that magistrates, like all people heard under oath by a parliamentary commission of inquiry, are required to ‘tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth’ and consequently have an obligation of sincerity” .

Press release from the Superior Council of the Judiciary: statements by magistrates of the Marseille judicial court before a senatorial commission of inquiry pic.twitter.com/oihb5uBxvs

— Judicial Council (@CSMagistrature) April 10, 2024

“Reproaching them for comments made in this context is likely to undermine both their freedom of expression and the separation of powers”continues the CSM in this rare call to order.

“If the judicial authority is obviously independent, the Minister of Justice is the guarantor of the proper functioning of the public service of justice, which he has also considerably strengthened in recent years,” Eric Dupond-Moretti’s entourage reacted to AFP.