A year and a half after the launch of the States General of Justice, the Keeper of the Seals presents this Wednesday, in the Council of Ministers, two bills which emanate from this unprecedented consultation: one of programming and orientation of justice , the other aimed at simplifying access to the judiciary. With the first, Eric Dupond-Moretti wishes to give justice the “budgetary and human” means of which it has been deprived for “thirty years”, he explains in an interview with 20 minutes.
The second text should, for its part, make it possible to simplify access to the judiciary by allowing people with previous professional experience to access it more easily. “We are going to set up competitions of excellence. There is no question for a second of putting in place a justice at a discount, ”he assures.
What are the particularities of the two texts that you are presenting this Wednesday morning in the Council of Ministers?
First, they are partly the result of an absolutely unprecedented democratic consultation. There were one million citizen contributions within the framework of the Estates General of Justice, conducted for more than a year. We have put in place a method of consultation and consultation which is now bearing fruit. Then, justice reforms, there have already been. But this is backed by means that will allow the implementation of these announced measures. It’s the first time.
We started from a double observation. The first is that justice has experienced thirty years of budgetary and human neglect. The second is that the French tell us that justice is too slow and too complex. Professionals denounce the lack of resources and poor organization. We therefore want to intervene so that justice is faster, closer, more protective.
My objective is in particular to halve the deadlines by 2027. We have started to do so, backlogs in family matters have decreased by 30%. We want to set up a justice of mediation, amicable. The goal is for the litigant to feel at the heart of the decision that concerns him.
You speak of a historic increase in the means allocated to justice. Isn’t that a bit of bragging?
No, it is a reality. At the end of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term, the justice budget will have increased by 60%. And by 2027, we will make 7.5 billion euros of additional investment. By comparison, under François Hollande, it was 2.1 billion euros; and under Nicolas Sarkozy, 2 billion euros. Thanks to these sums, we are going to recruit massively: 10,000 additional personnel, 1,500 magistrates – as many as during the last twenty years – 1,500 clerks.
But also contractors who will help the magistrates in their daily tasks. We are going to create around the magistrate an operational team with contractors, now called justice attachés, who will be cdised. They will receive training at the National School for the Judiciary (ENM) and take an oath to be fully integrated into the judicial community.
I also wanted to take several social measures. To reward the magistrates for their total investment, I have decided on a salary increase of around 1,000 euros. They hadn’t been upgraded since 1996. I also increased the clerks by 12%. And, between now and autumn, I will be taking new measures along the same lines. I also responded to a demand made by prison staff for twenty years, namely the change of category, which allows them a more favorable development of their career and salary adjustments.
In particular, you foresee, in this bill, the construction of 15,000 additional prison places. Is this enough to stem prison overcrowding, which is reaching record highs?
Ten new prisons will open their doors by the end of the year. Half will be operational in 2024. Naturally, we will need to hire to run these establishments, which is why I have upgraded the status of prison officers to enhance the attractiveness of their profession, which is essential to our Republic. Building prisons is indeed a lever to fight against prison overcrowding. But there are other reasons which justify this: the dignity of the detention, the dignity of the working conditions of the personnel, ensuring them more security… prison officials.
But there are other levers to fight against prison overcrowding: the development of community service whenever possible, avoiding dry releases which generate recidivism… I would add that prison overcrowding is the demonstration that justice in our country is not lax, contrary to what some like to say. All the numbers prove it.
The draft organic law, for its part, provides for opening the paths of access to the judiciary to people with previous professional experience. A measure that has been the subject of criticism from the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM)…
I wished, whereas I was not obliged to do it, to transmit the texts to the CSM for opinion. It is generally positive. They expressed, in the freedom which is theirs and which I respect, a certain number of that you qualify as criticism. But I want to reassure them completely. We are going to set up competitions of excellence. There is no question for a second of putting in place a justice at a discount. Of what use would it be, frankly, to have more magistrates if they do not have the professional qualities that are expected of them? It is more of an asset than a difficulty.
When will these texts be examined by Parliament? The atmosphere has been a little electric lately, especially at the Assembly. Do you understand this passage?
Before the summer, all the texts, legislative and regulatory, will be ready. There will have been a first reading in the National Assembly and in the Senate. These are not texts of cleavages. Who is going to want to say that justice should not have additional means? Who will want to say that justice should not be more protective and faster? There will be debates in Parliament. It’s a place for debate, and I love debate.