A judicial shift in this case? The National Union of Public Employees of National Education (SNAPEN) filed a complaint on Tuesday in Paris against Education Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, targeting the remarks she made to justify the schooling of her children in private schools.
The defamation complaint, seen by AFP, was filed with the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only court empowered to prosecute and try members of the government for offences committed in the exercise of their duties.
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She is targeting comments made on Friday by Mrs. Oudéa-Castéra to explain the schooling of her three sons in a prestigious private school in Paris. In particular, her statements about her "frustration" at "bundles of hours that were not seriously replaced" at the Littré public school - from where she had taken her eldest son and put him in private school.
'Sanction these remarks'
This complaint "aims to sanction these remarks that affect the reputation of agents by discrediting public education and, more generally, to impose the respect due by the highest administrations on them," commented Gérard Lenfant, president of SNAPEN.
This union presents itself as "apolitical", open to "all the staff of the Ministry of National Education present on the ground in the academies of Toulouse and Montpellier".
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Complaints addressed to the CJR are filtered by a petitions committee, which can close them or refer them to an investigating committee. At the end of the investigation, the commission dismisses the case or commits the case for trial.