Not content with the country’s bourgeoning indulgence in “Binge-Drinking”, its Sarko L’Americain head of state, and the insinuation of English Internet argot into its vocabulary, France is set to introduce yet another Anglo-Saxonism to La Republique. This time, President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to superannuate the courts’ role of juge d’instruction (examining magistrate) in an effort to bring its criminal justice system into line with its English common law counterpart. Enshrined in the Code Napoleon of 1807 and once considered a safeguard of égalité before the law, the juge d'instruction is viewed by the reforming president as an anachronism that leaves the system open to abuse.
The Notorious "Outreau" Case
Sarkozy has first-hand experience of the iniquities that can issue when the magistracy goes awry. In 2005 – as Minister of the Interior – he called for the abolishment of the juges d’instruction after the “Outreau” debacle. The case shamed the Chirac government when thirteen parents from the small town of Outreau were convicted of child abuse only to have their convictions overturned when it transpired that a confection of lies and fantasy had misled an inexperienced and credulous examining magistrate. The falsely-accused were issued a letter of apology by the president and compensated for their time behind bars – too little and too late, however, for the parent who killed himself before he was exonerated.
Guilty Until Proven Innocent?
Though today only 5% of all cases are handled by the juges d’instruction, Sarkozy believes a complete migration to the “adversarial” Anglo-Saxon system will ensure a more transparent and thorough-going means of conducting trials. Under such a system, the magistrate’s remit will be limited to that of overseer or arbiter, with state prosecutors and defenders presenting their competing cases .
A UMP spokesman, Patrick Devedjian, asserted that this would introduce a much need sense of presumption of innocence into proceedings. Under the current system, there must be some suspicion of guilt entertained by the juge d’instruction before the case can be brought to trial.
French Courts to Go Adversarial
However, critics have suggested that this latest UMP initiative is merely another ploy by its hyper-active leader to arrogate power to his government. They cite the fact that prosecutors in the proposed “Adversarial” system would be employed by the Ministry of Justice. This proposal runs counter to the recommendation of the parliamentary commission set-up after the Outreau affair. The commission also called for the scrapping of juges d’instruction but added the priviso that the prosecutors should be independent of the legislature, too.
Politics as Usual?
Christophe Reganard, head of the judges’ union, understood the proposed changes - and especially the lack of prosecution independence - to be yet another of the power-hungry president’s political machinations. He suggested that bitter past experience with the juges d'instruction had some hand in the changes and that they were less an earnest attempt at improvement and more a manoeuvre to keep political malfeasance out of the purview of the courts: “The government wants to settle accounts with the independent judges who have been after politicians since the 1980s.”
Chirac Corruption Charges and Government Graft
This no doubt strikes a chord with the French, who remember not just the egregious failures of the examining magistrate system but also its notable successes in going after the country's corrupt political elite. Former president Jacques Chirac, no less, was investigated by a juge d'instruction on corruption charges when he left office in 2007. It was claimed that his time as Paris’ mayor (1977-1995) was blighted with political manoeuvrings involving a fake jobs scandal.
 |
 |
