This Wednesday, November 29, the Court of Justice of the Republic delivered its verdict: Éric Dupond-Moretti is acquitted. After ten days of trial, a one-year suspended prison sentence was requested against the French Minister of Justice and former tenor of the bar, tried for “ illegal taking of interest “. Éric Dupond-Moretti is suspected of having used his functions as Minister of Justice to settle scores with magistrates whom he had criticized when he was a lawyer.
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The Minister of Justice was present at the Paris Courthouse this Wednesday, November 29 to hear the decision rendered on his fate by the judges, during a public hearing: he is therefore acquitted. The judges of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CRJ), the majority of whom are parliamentarians, did not follow the demands of the prosecution, which had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence at the end of this historic trial. His defense had pleaded for release on Thursday, November 16, the last day of his trial.
For ten days, from November 6 to 16, 2023, the French Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, sat on the dock before the Court of Justice of the Republicaccused of ” illegal taking of interest ” For having abused from his duties as minister in order to settle scores linked to his past as a lawyer.
According to the prosecution, he would have ordered, shortly after being appointed Minister of Justice, the opening of administrative investigations against magistrates with whom he had had trouble when he was a lawyer. The court considered that this offense was not characterized. With this verdict, the Court of Justice of the Republic closes an unprecedented trial since it was the first time in France that a Minister of Justice was tried while he is in office.
The court considered that “ the material element » of the illegal taking of interests was well constituted but not the intentional element. “ At no time did the minister “express (…) animosity, contempt or a desire for revenge » towards the four magistrates, declared the president of the CJR Dominique Pauthe.
The minister received by Emmanuel Macron this afternoon
Éric Dupond-Moretti was received this Wednesday afternoon at the Élysée by President Emmanuel Macron. The presidency has not commented at this stage on the decision of the Court of Justice of the Republic, which is a relief for Emmanuel Macron.
“ The Court of Justice of the Republic rendered its decision and acquitted Éric Dupond-Moretti. The Minister of Justice will be able to continue to carry out his action within the government team, in the service of the French. I am happy about it », Reacted the Prime Minister on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The Court of Justice of the Republic rendered its decision and acquitted Éric Dupond-Moretti.
The Minister of Justice will be able to continue to carry out his action within the government team, in the service of the French. I am delighted about it.
— Élisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) November 29, 2023
Despite the investigation and the trial before the CJR, the French president always maintained his confidence in his minister, and refused to demand his resignation, notwithstanding the excitement caused by this affair in the judiciary. On this issue as in others, the head of state refused to apply an unwritten rule long observed in France according to which an accused minister had to leave office.
The deputies of the LFI group called in the wake of the verdict for the abolition of the Court of Justice of the Republic, “ systematically biased self-jurisdiction », immediately after the announcement of the acquittal of Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti. “ While the trial relentlessly demonstrated his guilt, a majority of parliamentary judges chose to acquit him », denounce the LFI deputies in a press release. It is ” an arm of honor to the idea of justice », Commented LFI deputy Ugo Bernalicis to the press at the National Assembly.
Accused of ” illegal taking of interest »
According to the prosecution, Éric Dupond-Moretti simply sought revenge on magistrates with whom he had problems when he was a lawyer. He has always had conflicting relations with this profession. Barely appointed, in July 2020, the Minister of Justice launched administrative investigations against an investigating judge formerly stationed in Monaco, then against three magistrates from the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
[Reportage] In the National Assembly, the acquittal of Éric Dupond-Moretti provokes contrasting reactions
Each time, Éric Dupond-Moretti receives several warnings about possible conflicts of interest. Warnings he chooses to ignore. In his defense, the Minister of Justice asserts that the procedures had been initiated before his arrival at the ministry and that he only complied with the recommendations of his services regarding the follow-up to be given to them.
The Minister ” who knew better than anyone the conflicts of interest he could have with the magistrates concerned » should have refrained from being “ decision maker », concluded the investigation.
Read alsoÉric Dupond-Moretti trial: story of eight days of hearings