He risked transfer, or even removal from office.
Baptiste Porcher, the prosecutor of Limoges (Haute-Vienne) targeted by a disciplinary investigation after behavior described as inappropriate by several women within the court, is fixed on his fate.
The Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) rendered its decision on Tuesday and asked that he leave his functions, relays AFP.
Just a few months after taking office, in September 2020, alerts were raised about his behavior towards his female colleagues on the court.
The latter would never have denounced the facts themselves for fear of reprisals.
Employees criticize him in particular for making gravelly, sexist, even demeaning remarks, openly misogynistic behavior but also for staring at chests.
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For example, he would have called a colleague a “tease” because she had performed a dance step in front of a colleague.
Despite a call to order by his superior, the Attorney General, Baptiste Porcher allegedly continued to bother other young women.
Some said they came to work with a knot in their stomach, and did everything to avoid meeting him in the corridors of the court.
An “exemplary sanction” demanded
During his disciplinary hearing on February 6, the magistrate denied the facts.
He is, according to him, accused of “allegations” and “interpretations”.
On the crude jokes, Baptiste Porcher pleaded the second degree and insisted on the need for “black” or “schoolboy” humor to unite the teams.
“You will recognize that it is not very appropriate for a prosecutor (…) What can pass in a group of men passes more difficult in a circle of young women”, it was pointed out to him during the audience.
“I don’t make any gender distinction,” he assured, regretting however that his humor could sometimes “fall short”.
The director of judicial services, petitioning on behalf of the Minister of Justice, criticized a “total loss of ethical benchmarks” and demanded an “exemplary sanction”: the withdrawal of the function of prosecutor and an automatic transfer.