Michel Mercier (born 7 March 1947) is a French politician and who served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 2010 until 2012. After studying law and graduating from Jean Moulin University Law school and the Lyon IEP, he taught finance and local government law at the Faculty of Law of Lyon III. Elected Senator from the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

on 24 September 1995, he was the right's official candidate in the municipal elections in 2001 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, incumbent Mayor

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents ( Rey, Malfatti a ...

having refused to run for re-election. Arriving behind the right-wing dissident list supported by Charles Millon in his sector, the 5th arrondissement of Lyon, he decided to withdraw in favor of Jean-Michel Dubernard, who established an alliance with Charles Millon. The Socialist Gérard Collomb was elected Mayor of Lyon. He was re-elected Senator on 26 September 2004. General councillor for the canton of Thizy, he is also

President of the General Council In France, the President of the Departmental Council (French language, French: ''Président du Conseil départemental'') is the locally elected head of the Departmental councils (France), departmental council, the assembly governing a Departments ...

of Rhône since February 1990. Treasurer of the UDF, he remained loyal to the opposition of

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...

vis-à-vis the government of

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

. President of the Centrist Union Senate group since 2002, he remained faithful to François Bayrou by joining the

MoDem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

. On 30 January 2008, Michel Mercier, by favouring an alliance with the UMP in Lyon, whose list was led by Dominique Perben for the 2008 municipal elections signaled his disagreement with the strategy of François Bayrou by resigning the presidency of the MoDem in Rhône. He remained MoDem treasurer and member of the executive board of the MoDem until his appointment to the government. On 23 June 2009, he joined the government of

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

as Minister of Rural Areas and Spatial Planning. He announced his hiatus from the MoDem and was replaced as treasurer by Jean-Jacques Jégou. From 14 November 2010 he was Minister of justice in the 3rd government of François Fillon. After the defeat of

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

at the 2012 Presidential election, he was replaced by

Christiane Taubira Christiane Marie Taubira (; born 2 February 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Justice of France in the governments of Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls under President François Hollande from 2012 until 20 ...

. During his tenure as Minister, he was criticized for his lack of communication.

Political career

Governmental functions Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice and Freedoms : 2010–2012. Minister of Rural Areas and Spatial Planning : 2009–2010. Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

for Rhône (departement) (8th constituency) : 1993–1995 (Resignation, elected senator in 1995). ''Senate of France'' Senator of Rhône (departement) : 1995–2009 (Became minister in 2009). Elected in 1995, reelected in 2004. ''Regional Council'' Vice-president of the Regional Council of

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

: 1992–1993 (Resignation). Regional councillor of

: 1992–1993 (Resignation). ''General Council'' President of the General Council of Rhône (departement) : Since 1990. Reelected in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008. General councillor of Rhône (departement) : Since 1978. Reelected in 1979, 1985, 1992, 1998, 2004. ''Municipal Council'' Mayor of Thizy, Rhône : 1977–2001. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995. Deputy-Mayor of Thizy, Rhône : since 2006. Reelected in 2008. Municipal councillor of Thizy, Rhône : Since 1971. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008. ''Community of communes Council'' President of the Communauté de communes of Pays d'Amplepuis Thizy : 1994–2001. Reelected in 1995. 1st vice-president of the Communauté de communes of Pays d'Amplepuis Thizy : Since 2001. Reelected in 2008. Member of the Communauté de communes of Pays d'Amplepuis Thizy : Since 1994. Reelected in 1995, 2001, 2008.

Decorations

Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (lieutenancy of France)

References

Page on the Senate website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercier, Michel 1947 births Living people Centre of Social Democrats politicians Union for French Democracy politicians Democratic Movement (France) politicians Democratic European Force politicians Union of Democrats and Independents politicians Ministers of justice of France Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Rhône French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Rhône (department) Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre