The Keeper of the Seals Éric Dupond-Moretti will have to deport himself from cases related to his former activity as a lawyer, including the administrative investigation launched against magistrates of the national financial prosecutor's office which has earned him accusations of conflicts of interest, according to a decree published on Saturday.
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It will now be Prime Minister Jean Castex who will be in charge of this file and more generally "acts of any kind (...) relating to the questioning of the behavior of a magistrate on account of cases involving parties including (Mr. Dupond-Moretti) was the lawyer or in which he was involved ”, specifies the text, published in the Official Journal.
In mid-September, Éric Dupond-Moretti seized the General Inspectorate of Justice to identify possible faults linked to an investigation by the PNF which had led to his telephone records when he was a lawyer, on the sidelines of broader investigations into a corruption case involving Nicolas Sarkozy.
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By launching this administrative investigation, Eric Dupond-Moretti had by name implicated three magistrates of the PNF, provoking a sling in the world of justice which accused him of being judge and party, the Keeper of the Seals having jurisdiction to pronounce, in fine , disciplinary sanctions.
Faced with the outcry, Mr. Dupond-Moretti announced in mid-October that he would deliver the results of the administrative investigation to the Prime Minister.
The decree published on Saturday "legally translates the commitment made by the Minister of Justice to withdraw from this file," says one in the entourage of the minister.
To prevent possible future conflicts of interest, the decree also entrusts Matignon with any cases concerning individuals or legal persons who have taken legal action against Éric Dupond-Moretti.
It also formalizes the prohibition of reporting information to the Minister on files he had to know as a lawyer or for which his former partner, Antoine Vey, is responsible.