They want to make it a day of "
general mobilization for justice
".
On Wednesday, magistrates, lawyers and clerks gather in front of the courts to demand “
worthy
”
means
for justice, three weeks after a forum crying out suffering at work and loss of meaning.
"
We no longer want a justice which does not listen and which times everything
“, Headlined the text - now deflagration - at the origin of the call for a day of action by 17 professional and trade union organizations of the justice system.
Written by nine young magistrates after the suicide at the end of August of one of their colleagues, Charlotte, the forum had collected when it was put online on November 23 on the site of the daily Le Monde more than 3,000 signatures, or a third of the professional body. .
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It posted Monday more than 7,550 signatories, including 5,476 magistrates, 1,583 registry officials and 493 judicial auditors (student magistrates), an unprecedented mobilization.
"
What is unprecedented is the number of magistrates who in their own name have chosen to sign this forum,
" argues Katia Dubreuil, president of the Syndicate of the judiciary (SM, classified on the left).
In the process, a large number of jurisdictions, at the end of their compulsory general assemblies in December, voted on motions joining the podium and calling for additional resources.
This very broad consensus, which takes place in the context of a deep crisis in the judicial institution, struck the Estates General of Justice launched by the government in mid-October.
"Untenable dilemma"
Beyond the lack of means of judicial services, long denounced, the forum massively expresses the "
desperation
" of those who deliver justice on a daily basis, who is now exposed on social networks with the keyword "
#justicemalade
". The text pointed out "
an untenable dilemma: to judge quickly but badly or to judge well but within unacceptable deadlines
". “
This platform is the expression of suffering. I have never seen so many burnouts, sick
leaves, ”says Frédéric Fèvre, attorney general in Douai and president of the national conference of attorneys general. If today "
the word is freed
", the observation is there "
for twenty years
": "
justice has lost part of its humanity because we have an accounting logic
, ”he believes.
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In an interview with Var-Matin, the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, François Molins, who as president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) received the authors of the forum, said he was "
struck
" by "
Strong words that we are not used to hearing
". These young magistrates "
explained to us the feeling of shame they had to work with means whose precariousness is the opposite of the height of their mission
", he said. The forum "
speaks to everyone, not only to young people,
" said Cécile Mamelin, vice-president of the Union Syndicale des Magistrates (USM, majority), which for the first time formally calls for a strike on Wednesday. In the judiciary, "
we are usually good little soldiers.
But this is no longer possible, we have the right to normal working conditions,
”she says.
A “historic” budget?
On the occasion of the national day Wednesday, the organizers call for massive postponements of hearings "
to show our common determination to finally obtain the proper means for justice to be served with dignity
".
They invite, alongside representatives of lawyers and registry officials, to gatherings in front of courthouses.
In Paris, the organizers decided to meet at noon in front of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, to underline "
that the problem of means is completely removed both from the ministerial speech and from the States General of justice
".
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On the eve of this day which promises to be massive, the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti defended his record at a press conference at the Chancellery, once again extolling the “
historic
”
budget
for justice which has experienced two successive increases of 8% over the past two years. Assuring to have "
heard and taken into account
" the call to unite before the courts, he nevertheless denounced the "
ulterior motives of some, as well as the temptations of instrumentalization in a pre-electoral context
". Five years ago, “
justice was in a state of absolute emergency. (...) We have repaired the most glaring emergencies
”, assured the Minister. "
The work continues within the framework of the Estates General of Justice,
”he added.
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