Eric Dupond-Moretti takes the magistrates at their word.
Accused of a conflict of interest concerning the administrative investigation that he initiated against three magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) in the case of the fadettes of lawyers, the Minister of Justice reacts.
On his Facebook page, he announced that he would transmit the investigation currently carried out by the General Inspectorate of Justice to the Prime Minister, to
"get out of the trap"
of this
"pseudo conflict of interest"
that we are trying. to
“stick to the basques”
.
Read also: This conflict of interest that sticks to Éric Dupond-Moretti
It will be up to Jean Castex to decide if he considers it appropriate to transmit the conclusions of this investigation to the Superior Council of the Judiciary for disciplinary purposes.
Eric Dupond-Moretti now invites the magistrates' unions to work on substantive cases.
A controversial investigation
This investigation opened in mid-September follows a report on a controversial investigation by the PNF: the telephone records of several tenors of the bar, including Eric Dupond-Moretti, had been peeled to try to identify a "
mole
" in a case involving Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog.
Mr. Dupond-Moretti had lodged a complaint before withdrawing it upon his appointment as Keeper of the Seals.
The opening of the administrative investigation was however seen by many magistrates as a “
conflict of interest
” and an “
attack on judicial independence
”, denounced by the unions and in motions adopted in around 100 jurisdictions.
