The Judicial Council rose up on Sunday against “the questioning” of justice in two “painful” cases. – Philippe Merle AFP
Angry blow of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM). The body rose up on Sunday against “the questioning” of justice in two “painful” cases, with reference to the challenge of the judgment of the Court of Cassation in the Sarah Halimi case and the verdict at trial of Viry-Châtillon.
“The judicial institution must be able to continue to judge, free from pressure, with complete independence and impartiality”, writes the body in a press release, calling for “measure”.
Press release @CSMagistrature pic.twitter.com/BAmxOlN5hd
– Judicial Council (@CSMagistrature) April 25, 2021
Regarding the Halimi case, “the judge’s mission is to apply the law and must interpret it strictly”
“With regard to the judgment of the Court of Cassation in the Halimi case, it should be remembered that the judge’s mission is to apply the law and must, in criminal matters, interpret it strictly”, recalls the CSM. “He cannot create or modify it. This is a fundamental principle for preserving democratic balances, ”insists the constitutional body, which guarantees the independence of the judicial authority.
On April 14, the Court of Cassation confirmed the criminal irresponsibility of the murderer of Sarah Halimi, a Jewish sexagenarian who was killed in 2017 in Paris. While endorsing the anti-Semitic nature of the crime, the highest judicial court had confirmed the abolition of the discernment of the murderer, taken from a “delirious puff” during the facts, according to seven experts consulted.
This decision aroused great emotion and a very strong incomprehension within a part of the French Jewish community and pushed Emmanuel Macron to demand “a change of the law”.
Concerning the Viry-Châtillon affair, “willful deformation and denigration are a profound attack on authority”
Regarding the verdict of the Paris Assize Court ruling on appeal in the Viry-Châtillon case, the CSM recalls “that it was rendered by the judges and jurors after debates lasting several weeks”. “The deliberate distortion of the remarks made by the representative of the public prosecutor and the denigration, in often outrageous terms, of the pronounced partial acquittals seriously undermine the authority which attaches to court decisions”, writes the body further. .
After six weeks of closed-door trials, five young people were sentenced on April 18 to terms ranging from six to eighteen years in prison for attacking and burning police officers in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) in 2016. Eight had been acquitted, sparking indignation among police unions and part of the political class.
The attorney general of Paris, Catherine Champrenault, had denounced on April 21 an “attempt to destabilize the judicial institution” after the dissemination, by elected officials, of “erroneous remarks” attributed to the attorney general who requested the appeal trial . The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, also defended this magistrate.