Rémy Heitz usually displays the prudent compunction that befits a public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, statutorily independent and attentive to his sole but demanding conscience. Freshly appointed, in July, by the President of the Republic, obviously with the approval of Eric Dupond-Moretti, it was he who inherited the heavy responsibility of bringing the accusation against the Minister of Justice before the Court of justice of the Republic (CJR). And the high magistrate brutally revealed himself, Thursday, November 9, by exhuming some decisive documents from the file, which clearly showed how the state apparatus had mobilized to try to save the Keeper of the Seals. François Molins, Rémy Heitz’s predecessor, then came to hammer the last nails into the minister’s defense.
There is an official version, recalled under oath by Véronique Malbec, the former chief of staff of Eric Dupond-Moretti, then his deputy, Rémi Decout-Paolini. On September 9, 2020 – the former lawyer has only been a minister for two months – the director received a preliminary report from the judicial services inspection (IGJ) on the functioning of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, the PNF. The report was commissioned by Nicole Belloubet, who has since left to cultivate her garden, on a six-year-old PNF investigation, which sought to find out who had warned Nicolas Sarkozy, camouflaged as Paul Bismuth, and his lawyer Thierry Herzog that they were on listens.
The fadettes (detailed billings) of a magistrate and nine lawyers had been examined, including those of Me Dupond-Moretti, who had ensured “that we were among the crazy” and filed a complaint against “these barbouze methods” – complaint withdrawn as soon as he arrived at Place Vendôme. The inspection report noted worrying dysfunctions of the prosecution but not individual responsibilities – the report was also anonymized. On the other hand, there was a trace of Ms.’s complaint.e Dupond-Moretti, and a note from a PNF magistrate which highlighted the risk “a major conflict of interest for the current Minister of Justice”. The magistrates’ unions had already reported this, to no avail, upon the appointment of the Keeper of the Seals.
Eric Dupond-Moretti’s office immediately wondered what follow-up to be given to the inspection, while the head of the IGJ did not see any grounds for prosecution. Should we launch an administrative – pre-disciplinary – investigation which will give the names of those guilty of the PNF? But, ordered by the Minister of Justice, it would especially risk highlighting the conflict of interests: a lawyer, he filed a complaint against these magistrates; minister, he pursues them. It would be very different if the Superior Judicial Council (CSM), in disciplinary training, took up the matter and left the Minister of Justice with clean hands.
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