The public prosecutor of Limoges (Haute-Vienne) is accused of “failures of delicacy and dignity of the magistrate”.
The Limoges public prosecutor is in the hot seat for sexist remarks and questionable jokes against several women. Indeed, Baptiste Porcher appeared this Tuesday, February 6, 2024 during a disciplinary hearing of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM). As France Inter indicates, the latter is being prosecuted for “failures of the delicacy and dignity of the magistrate”.
“I ended up hiding behind doors”
A CSM investigation made it possible to collect several testimonies from women accusing the magistrate who has been in office for 4 years in Haute-Vienne. The latter cite “the discomfort of his conversations, the avoidance strategies to avoid meeting him at the coffee machine, fatigue, harassment for some” reveals the media. During the hearing, Baptiste Porcher recognizes the inappropriate nature of his jokes, such as when he compares one of his colleagues leaving the hearing to his wife, she “does the same when she wants to make love”.
“I ended up hiding behind the doors, it never stopped” says the employee. “There are also inappropriate gestures, on the slightly low-cut t-shirt of a justice assistant” reports France Info. He also happened to add “TION” on the police custody table next to the surname of a suspect whose name was Fella.
The CSM will deliver its opinion on March 12
Serious, inappropriate and sexist comments which first led to an alert from the Prosecutor’s Office in August 2022, then the opening of an administrative investigation by the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) for possible breaches of an ethical nature. Le Parisien also indicates that Mr. Porcher had already been called to order by his superior.
The Ministry of Justice denounces a “total loss of ethical benchmarks” and calls for an “exemplary sanction”. Are we heading towards a pure and simple withdrawal from the function of public prosecutor and an automatic transfer? The Superior Council of the Judiciary will deliver its opinion on March 12, 2024. Before the Minister of Justice pronounces the sanction. In the majority of cases, it confirms the opinion of the Council.