Crisis communication advisers will soon support magistrates

Crisis communication advisers will arrive in the fall to support French magistrates in the most high-profile cases.

At the end of July, Place Vendôme launched a call for tenders in order to recruit private companies specializing in judicial communication.

Managed by the cabinet of the Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupond-Moretti, this unprecedented device will have a budget of 500,000 euros per year for the entire territory.

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Prosecutors are often overwhelmed by calls from the media.

A few minutes after the announcement on Twitter by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin of the discovery of the body of the priest Olivier Maire in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre (Vendée), Monday, August 9, the theories around the alleged assassin multiplied on social networks and news channels even before the judiciary had time to speak.

Faced with the pressure, the Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic of La Roche-sur-Yon, Yannick Le Goater, in charge of the open investigation for intentional homicide, then had to urgently organize an afternoon press conference.

Distrust of certain members of the profession

"

explains Nils Monsarrat, national secretary at the Magistrates' Union

”. A posture considered delicate even though the exercise of communication is essential to give the public the basic elements of an investigation, and above all to avoid the spread of false information about a case.

For its part, the Ministry of Justice explains that it will essentially be a question of recruited crisis communicators to answer calls from journalists, to urgently book press conference rooms, to help write press releases. , or even to provide media training courses to magistrates. Communication courses are already provided to magistrates at the National School of Magistracy (ENM).

The initiative is already arousing the mistrust of certain members of the profession. Others believe above all that the French judicial system has other investment priorities. "

explains Nils Monsarrat

". For the magistrate's union, it would rather be necessary to train internally magistrates who would be dedicated to communication, in particular to prevent private companies from having access to investigations covered by the secrecy of the investigation.