The ''Cour de Justice de la République'' (CJR, "Court of Justice of the Republic") is a special

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

court established to try cases of ministerial misconduct. Its remit only extends to government ministers (or former ministers) concerning offences committed in the exercise of their functions.National Assembly website
/ref> It was instituted by President

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

on 27 July 1993 following the infected blood scandal,Agence France-Presse news article
/ref> which saw three ministers, including then-Prime Minister

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Mar ...

, charged with

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

. Before that, ministers in France benefitted from a degree of judicial immunity. As of 2020, the court has formally charged ten ministers since it was established; five were found guilty. French ministers can still be tried in a regular French court, if the alleged offence is not related to their ministerial duties. Notably, Interior Minister

Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...

was fined in 2010 for making racial slurs. On 3 July 2017 President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

announced his intention to abolish the court to have ministers tried by a regular Paris court, criticising the composition of the CJR.(in French
Suppression de la CJR : les ministres bientôt jugés selon le droit commun
France 24, 9 May 2018

Composition

Ministers tried before the CJR are heard by a fifteen-judge panel made up of three justices of the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

and twelve parliamentarians: six each from the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The tribunal's composition has been criticised on grounds of partiality, since the twelve parliamentarians are likely to be colleagues, or at least acquaintances, of the ministers on trial. Even one of the court's former presidents, Henri-Claude Le Gall (2000–2011), has commented: "Very often the judges, whether senators or assemblymen, know the ministers they are passing judgement on very well, so they have a lot of trouble remaining detached and judging objectively."AFP-TV news report
/ref>

Proceedings

Complaints against ministers or former ministers are lodged with the CJR's Petitions Commission, made up of seven justices drawn from the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

, and the

Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those ins ...

. Anyone can lodge a complaint. If the Petitions Commission considers the case worth pursuing, the case moves to another body called the Inquest Commission, consisting of three Supreme Court justices who then conduct an inquest into the circumstances of the alleged offence. After investigation, the case is either dismissed or the minister is called before the court. However, in practice it is rare for a minister to go to trial. Of more than 1,000 complaints lodged since the CJR was created in 1993, only 38 were passed on to the Inquest Commission, and only six of those ever went to trial. Three guilty verdicts have been handed down.

Cases

Two cases are currently under investigation by the CJR. The first concerns Éric Wœrth, who is being investigated for "unlawful conflict of interests" over the sale of a racecourse while he was budget minister. Then on 4 August 2011, the Petitions Commission said they would also greenlight an investigation into former finance minister

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...

over concerns about her part in a long-running scandal connected to the French tycoon

Bernard Tapie Bernard Roger Tapie (; 26 January 1943 – 3 October 2021) was a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Minister of City Affairs in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy. Life and career Tapie was bor ...

. Other significant cases are: *In 1999, the CJR tried former prime minister

, former social affairs minister

Georgina Dufoix Georgina Dufoix (born Georgina Nègre on 16 February 1942) is a French politician, who served as Minister of Social Affairs and National Solidarity from 1984 to 1986, in the government of Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 194 ...

, and former health secretary

Edmond Hervé Edmond Hervé (born 3 December 1942) is a French politician, a member of the Socialist Party and French senator from 2008 to 2014. He was the mayor of Rennes from 1977 to 2008, succeeding Henri Fréville. Biography Born in La Bouillie, Côte ...

for their role in the ‘infected blood’ scandal. Fabius and Dufoix were found not guilty; Hervé was convicted but not given any punishment. *In 2000,

Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...

was acquitted of

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

charges. *In July 2004, former minister for disabilities

Michel Gillibert Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

was given a three-year suspended prison sentence for

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

. *In April 2011, former minister of the interior

Charles Pasqua Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's '' cohabitation'' government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government ...

was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for

over his part in the Sofremi affair.

Notes

External links

Information page from National Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cour de Justice de la Republique Judiciary of France 1993 establishments in France Organizations based in Paris Courts and tribunals established in 1993