Eric Dupond-Moretti decided to fight back and call the head of government as a witness.
Faced with accusations of "conflict of interest" after the opening of an administrative investigation targeting magistrates from the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), the Minister of Justice pledged Monday to let the Prime Minister decide on the follow-up to be given.
In a video posted the evening on Facebook, he returned to the sling of magistrates he has faced since the opening of an administrative investigation targeting three PNF magistrates.
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 himself, had been peeled to try to identify a "mole" in a case concerning Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog, revealed Le Point on June 24.
Eric Dupond-Moretti had filed 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.
“The unions are asking me to hand over to the Prime Minister.
[…] Very good, ”announced the Minister on Monday evening.
A "case built from scratch"
It is up to the Prime Minister that "it will be up to the decision," he added, pledging to hand him the investigation report.
It will therefore be up to Jean Castex to decide whether or not to transmit his conclusions to the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
"Either the report says no fault has been committed and I will be the happiest Keeper of the Seals in the world.
Either mistakes have been made and we will then see the decision that the Prime Minister will take ”.
The Minister of Justice, however, once again denied any conflict of interest and denounced a "fabricated case" and "used against (him) for political purposes".
He also considered that it was a “diversion” from the unions who say “no to everything” and do not want to “talk about the real issues”.
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The two main magistrates' unions had recently announced "refusing" to speak to the minister and defer to the president or the prime minister.
"I have a little trouble understanding why he passes the hand if he says that there is no conflict of interest", reacted Monday evening Céline Parisot, president of the Union syndicale de la magistrature (USM, majority).
"He is laughing at us," approved Katia Dubreuil, president of the SM (classified on the left).
“How can we be reassured when we see that he says 'I'm going to give my hand to the Prime Minister' as if we were on a whim?
"
