It was an incident that angered many magistrates, outraged by the treatment reserved for their colleague. Thursday April 4, a lawyer who was eight months pregnant, who because of this requested the postponement of her case (that is to say that it be judged at a later date), became unwell in the middle of the Paris court . The latter also lost her water after her request was refused, explains one of her colleagues Me Hedi Dakhlaoui, confirming information from our colleagues, in particular New Obs.
That day, one of the defendant’s lawyers was summoned to two other courts. His colleague, who also defends the same man, is eight months pregnant, and therefore also requests a dismissal. But the court refused, and “45 minutes to an hour” of “particularly tense” debates followed, according to Mr. Hedi Dakhlaoui, who defended the defendant’s wife.
“She felt bad, she had contractions, and she started shaking. She was lying on the ground, she was convulsing, it was an epileptic attack,” says Mr. Hedi Dakhlaoui, “revolted” by the attitude of the court. “From the moment a lawyer says she cannot plead, we should all be able to come together, and administrative constraints should be removed,” argues the lawyer, who does not understand “that we arrive at such a tense situation and a lawyer putting his life in danger.”
Work group
The tribunal argue in the newspaper The Parisian that the defendant’s defense “could well be provided by a lawyer”, out of the two he had mandated. But these explanations have little resonance with Me Hedi Dakhlaoui.
“She was unable to follow the hearing. From a moment when a defendant chooses to have two lawyers, we cannot say “wait, you will only have one”. It’s a complicated case of false quality theft. Can you imagine the number of hours of work? We cannot say to someone “you go home, someone else will do it”, argues the lawyer.
According to The Parisiana working group of the Paris bar is working on the organization of a group of missioned lawyers who would handle referral requests for lawyers on maternity leave.