The management of the coronavirus crisis is fully entering its judicial phase. This Friday, July 3, the general prosecutor's office of the Court of Cassation announced that a judicial inquiry was going to be opened targeting the now former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn and Olivier Véran who had succeeded him. This is the ministerial part of this litigation which will therefore be dealt with by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR).
In total, 90 complaints were filed against members of the outgoing government to question their management of the pandemic. The CJR's complaints commission, which acts as a sort of filter, examined 53 and made an initial selection: 34 of them were declared inadmissible, "either because of its incompetence (the complaints designating no minister or targeting persons not belonging to the government), either because of the complainants' lack of interest in taking action, ”said the Court of Cassation in a press release. Of the remaining 19 complaints, 10 have been closed.
Nine complaints accepted, only one criminal qualification
The complaints commission finally accepted nine complaints which it joined in a single procedure. Only one criminal qualification was retained: abstention from fighting a claim. This offense, punishable by 2 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros, punishes "anyone who voluntarily refrains from taking or initiating measures which, without risk for him or for third parties, can combat a disaster likely to create a danger to the safety of persons ”. It is now up to the investigative commission of the CJR, composed of three magistrates, to hear the complainants and the accused before pronouncing the possible referral of the latter before the trial court, mainly composed of parliamentarians.
In a press release to AFP, Edouard Philippe "took note" Friday of the announcement of this next investigation into his management of the Covid-19 crisis and said that he would bring "all the necessary answers".
Among the complaints retained, is that filed in mid-March by three doctors who accuse Edouard Philippe and Agnès Buzyn of having "refrained" from taking timely measures to stem the epidemic. The three practitioners believe that the former head of government and his Minister of Health "were aware of the danger and had the means of action, which they nevertheless chose not to exercise". Their action had, in particular, been motivated by the confidences of Agnès Buzyn to the World, the day after the first round of municipal elections on March 15, when it claimed to have alerted the Prime Minister to the seriousness of the threat and to have warned him that the poll could not be held.
“We are obviously very satisfied, reacts Me Fabrice Di Vizio, the lawyer for the three complainants. The question to which justice will have to answer is that of the voluntary nature or not of the abstention to act. This announcement is all the more symbolic the day we learn of the appointment of Jean Castex to Matignon. As former Director of Hospitalization and Organization of Care (DHOS) at the Ministry of Health between 2005 and 2007, he is one of those responsible for the current crisis in the hospital. "
Even if he does not yet know if the two complaints made by his clients have been accepted, the lawyer Nabil Boudi is also delighted with the opening of this investigation. "In any case, this is excellent news," he says.
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On June 8, the Paris public prosecutor's office had opened a vast preliminary investigation against X concerning the Covid-19 crisis. According to several observers, the CJR could then hardly declare itself offside. “It's a question of consistency, analyzes Me Di Vizio. We cannot investigate the administration but not those who command it. "
