The Parliament is preparing to adopt definitively Thursday, November 18, by a final vote of the Senate, the bill
"for the confidence in the judicial institution"
, whose controversial provisions relating to the professional secrecy of lawyers were modified in extremis to The national assembly.
To read also Stéphane Noël: "The loss of confidence in an effective justice leads to a loss of confidence in the State"
Filmed hearings, supervision of the duration of preliminary investigations, encouragement to wear an electronic bracelet, generalization in 2023 of departmental criminal courts, creation of a national center for serial crimes ... The text of Eric Dupond-Moretti, which was the subject of an agreement between deputies and senators meeting in a mixed joint committee (CMP), was adopted Tuesday by 66 votes in favor, 11 against and 11 abstentions at the Palais Bourbon. The vote of the High Assembly, dominated by the right-wing opposition, will therefore be worth final adoption.
Completed by an organic component, the text also provides for the abolition of credits for the reduction of automatic sentences, a reform of the work of prisoners and replaces reminders of the law by a
"probative penal warning"
.
A provision introduced by government amendment in the Senate also opens the door to a review of the very old Mis et Thiennot affair, dating back to 1947.
Turmoil among lawyers
But it was the solicitor-client privilege measures that created the most stir. The profession again expressed its opposition on Wednesday before the Senate. The compromise text reached by deputies and senators enshrines the professional secrecy of lawyers in their defense activity but provides for a framework for them in their advisory activity. In addition to terrorism, exceptions are thus provided for in matters of tax fraud and corruption. These provisions aroused the grumbling of the black dresses. And a final attempt by the Keeper of the Seals, himself a former lawyer, to iron out the misunderstandings resulted in the request of the National Bar Council (CNB) to purely and simply delete the controversial article.
In an amendment adopted by the deputies, the government has chosen to modify marginally part of the system without going back on its main balances.
It confirms the presence of the President of the Bar in searches and removes the exception relating to that where the lawyer has been
“the object of maneuvers or actions for the purpose of unintentionally allowing the commission, prosecution or concealment of a offense ”
.
"I take note of the position of the CNB but in conscience and responsibility, I want to consecrate with parliamentarians the major advances"
of the text, said Eric Dupond-Moretti to the deputies.
To read also "Confidence" in justice: the deputies bring new guarantees
The LREM rapporteur of the bill to the Assembly, Stéphane Mazars, regretted a
"partisan corporate posture"
of the lawyers.
“There is a united position of the government, the National Assembly and the Senate”
on this amendment, Philippe Bonnecarrère, centrist co-rapporteur of the text in the Senate, told AFP.
"It removes a provision which gave rise to difficulties of interpretation,"
he said. A
“generalized”
professional secrecy
of the lawyer is
“a myth”
, according to Philippe Bonnecarrère, for whom the text is
“favorable to lawyers”
. It
"extends"
professional secrecy to consultancy activities,
"to the business sector"
,
"Even if we considered that the company cannot be disarmed on subjects which touch on its functioning, corruption, tax evasion"
. The text also offers the legal profession
"important guarantees during searches, which it did not have"
, he underlines.
More generally, LR co-rapporteur Agnès Canayer was skeptical about the ability of this
“composite”
bill
to achieve the
“ambitious”
objective
it displays.
"By legislating on confidence in the judicial institution while the states general of justice have just opened, we are putting the cart before the horse,"
said Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie (PS) on the left.
She also deplored
"the absence of measures in favor of daily justice"
.