This roadmap for the five -year term takes up recommendations from the States General of Justice. Among the projects that risk being debated, a simplification of the Criminal Procedure Code and in particular the framework of surveys.
by Abel Mestre
It is an “action plan” of around sixty measures that aims to be of “unprecedented” magnitude. Eric Dupond-Moretti, Keeper of the Seals, decided to brew very wide and present a roadmap for the five-year term which relates to all aspects of justice: both to his organization and to the recruitment of magistrates but also, between others, in criminal procedure, civil law, the justice of minors or the question of prisons.
largely from the work of the States General of Justice – launched in October 2021 and whose synthesis, the saved report, was given to Emmanuel Macron, this summer -, these proposals were to be presented Thursday, January 5 at the Press, just over a month after the initial date that had been postponed at the last moment. “That our fellow citizens told us during this consultation? That justice was too slow and too complex, assures the minister to explain the motivations for his work. The States General of Justice served us as a frame, they were enriched by Consultations [of July and November] but also by our own reflections and, I dare say it, by our own convictions. “
Some proposals or avenues for reflection, such as strengthening the use of civil mediation in civil matters or the “simplification” of the framework of criminal matters, are likely to tend a little more the relations of the Minister of Justice with the Magistrates, but also with lawyers. This is why, Mr. Dupond-Moretti launches in the wake of these announcements several meetings with law professionals to explain his approach.
a confirmed budgetary effort
The first point on which the Keeper of the Seals insists on showing his good will is also the best known: the increase in means. According to him, after “thirty years of political, budgetary and human abandonment”, justice catches up. “The budget has increased by 8 % each year for three years, an increase of 26 % in total, from 7.6 billion in 2020 to 9.6 billion in 2023,” he said. The objective is to reach a budget of 11 billion euros in 2027. This would be equivalent to an increase of 60 % in ten years. This trajectory will be made in the next law of orientation and programming of justice.
These means will notably be allocated to the revaluation of remuneration, to the completion of the construction of 15,000 places in prison, to the modernization of courthouses, digitization and recruitment. On this point, the arrival of 10,000 additional jobs (including 1,500 magistrates and 1,500 clerks by 2027) is already planned. Likewise, the next promotion of the National School of Magistracy (ENM) “will be the most important in history”, with 380 court listeners. From 2024, there will be 470. To support this increase, additional premises were found in Bordeaux to welcome students.
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