Another highly corrosive file. The report of the Committee of the States General of Justice was sent to the Head of State this Friday. Started in October 2021, against the backdrop of the attacks on the supposed slowness of justice, this order from the tenant of the Elysée ended at the end of April. This document is all the more important as it will serve as the basis for a future programming law for justice announced on Wednesday by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in her general policy speech.
Inside, we can read a damning observation of the judicial institution, described “in a state of advanced disrepair” and which “no longer manages to carry out its missions in satisfactory conditions”. Several avenues are being considered for reforming the system at the end of its tether. Massive hiring of magistrates, maintenance of the investigating judge, limiting the use of prison, abolishing the Court of Justice of the Republic… Here are the main conclusions of the Estates General of Justice contained in the report “Giving justice to citizens”
- More means for justice
Unsurprisingly, the report advocates an increase in resources in the judicial sector. In terms of staff, the committee considers that there is a need to recruit at least 1,500 additional magistrates (in addition to the replacement of those who retire) over the next five years (…) The committee also proposes to increase the number of court clerks by 2,500 to 3,000 people, some of whom will help with decision-making, and provide the courts with administrative and technical support (in particular for the deployment, proper use and maintenance of digital tools ) of at least 2,000 agents. These reinforcements must imperatively be accompanied by a refounded and rigorous management of resources”.
For several months, magistrates, lawyers and other actors of justice, had expressed their anger in the face of the shortage of personnel. “For lack of clerks, some judgments are typed six months, a year after the conviction. Then for lack of administrative assistants, these files are still registered weeks later within the sentence enforcement service, sometimes rendered incomplete. The delay can accumulate at each link in the chain”, developed Elise Lebas, member of the National Association of Sentence Enforcement Judges (ANJAP), to L’Express last June.
- Upgrading the profession
Among the leitmotifs of this report: the revaluation of the profession. The document evokes the need for a “systemic reform which must be accompanied by a clarification of the missions of the judge”. Among the changes to be implemented, the conclusions recommend restoring collegiality for civil judges. In other words, that they are no longer alone, but three to decide on a case.
In addition, the ad hoc committee makes three proposals to stem the explosion of judgments subject to appeal. “The first instance must be the place where justice is given as a priority and the appeal (must) cease to be the instance where the entire dispute is retried and ultimately becomes a means of reforming the first instance decision” , is it written. Among the suggestions, the payment of legal costs by the losing party could be increased.
- Criminal justice reform
For more efficiency, the need to reform criminal justice is on the table: “The code of criminal procedure is excessively complex, illegible and must be overhauled (…) The need for simplification cannot lead to reconsidering causes the guarantee of rights”. The committee suggests, in its majority, the maintenance of the investigating judge with regard to his contribution considered decisive in the most complex cases, which engage the authority and the reputation of justice.
- “Promote reintegration”
Emphasis is also placed on the importance of reintegration after a period in prison: “The sentence should not be limited to a sanction, by deprivation of liberty, of tortious or criminal behavior but must also, by guaranteeing a individualized and multidisciplinary follow-up, promote the reintegration of the perpetrator and reduce the risk of recidivism”. The committee recommends limiting short prison sentences, “which do not make it possible to act on the behavior of the person, nor to prepare for his reintegration”.
- Reform the Superior Council of the Judiciary
The subject of the independence of the magistrates – the prosecutors – in relation to the Keeper of the Seals is regularly debated. In 2017, the Constitutional Court had issued an ambiguous opinion, affirming the existence of a link of subordination of the prosecution to the chancellery, in accordance with the Constitution, while specifying that this did not affect their independence.
In the report, the experts put forward the need to strengthen impartiality in the appointment and management of public prosecutors, to confer on the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) the power to give assent to proposals for the appointment of these magistrates as well as on the disciplinary sanctions which concern them”. However, he specifies that it is not a question of aligning the rules of appointment of the public prosecutors and the general prosecutors with those of the presidents of judicial tribunals and the first presidents of courts of appeal.
- Remove the Court of Justice of the Republic
In total, almost 20,000 complaints have been lodged against incumbent ministers since the start of the health crisis in March 2020, so the question is more than topical. The report proposes, in addition to the abolition of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), “to align with common law the rules of procedure and jurisdiction applicable to members of the government, subject to the institution of a system of filtering, so that the ministers and their collaborators come under the same judges within the framework of single instances”.