The polemical remarks of the former prosecutor of the national financial parquet on the Fillon case continue to fuel the controversy. We must "remove the deleterious doubt" for justice, said the Keeper of the Seals, Nicole Belloubet, in the Journal du Dimanche.
"The words of the former financial prosecutor, rightly or wrongly, distilled doubt about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in the conduct of this case," said the minister.
The former national financial prosecutor, Eliane Houlette, retired for a year, was moved on June 10 before a parliamentary commission of the "very close control" that would have exercised the general prosecutor's office, its direct supervisory authority, in the conduct of investigations launched during the 2017 presidential campaign.
This investigation had poisoned the candidacy of François Fillon at the Elysee Palace and led in the spring of 2020 to his trial in correctional court alongside his wife Penelope, whose judgment is expected on June 29.
Shades made on Friday
Friday, she clarified that the pressures mentioned were "not on the facts alleged against Mr. Fillon or on the merits of the prosecution", but "were purely procedural." "Mr. Fillon was not charged at the request or under pressure from the executive," she insisted.
But his first statements triggered an avalanche of political reactions, from Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Marine Le Pen and especially at LR. All criticize the instrumentalization of justice in this highly sensitive case.
Emmanuel Macron asked the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) for an opinion to verify that the National Financial Prosecutor's Office had conducted "in all serenity, without pressure" from the executive its investigation into the Fillon spouses. The CSM will be able “to hear all the protagonists”, underlines Nicole Belloubet, who does not exclude from carrying out a judicial inspection, if the Council “considers it necessary”.
The feedback of information registered in the law
According to the rules in force, the public prosecutor's office may request information from the public prosecutor's office and transmit it to the directorate of criminal affairs and pardons within the Chancellery, which can forward it to the office of the Minister of Justice. On the other hand, the Taubira law of 2013 prohibits the Keeper of the Seals from giving instructions in individual files.
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"The feedback is provided for by law and is perfectly legal," said Katia Dubreuil, of the magistrates' union (SM). "This is the reason why we have been asking for years for the suppression of these information updates."
Asked about the independence of the prosecution, Nicole Belloubet said she was "in favor" of the prosecutors being appointed on the assent of the CSM, like the judges. Emmanuel Macron had announced a reform in this sense, but it has been postponed indefinitely.
In practice, this has already been the case since 2012. But in theory, the executive can override the advice of the HJC, which feeds daily suspicions of political instrumentalization of the prosecutions. This reform, which presupposes a constitutional revision, has been postponed indefinitely.
