The opportunity was good. Monday, January 10, during the formal re-entry hearing of the highest court of the French judicial order, the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, François Molins, denounced “Untenable working conditions” and the “Structural lack of means” of Justice.
Mr. Molins spoke to the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, and the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, about the « lame de fond » of the platform signed at the end of November by more than 7,000 magistrates and clerks to denounce their working conditions and in turn noted a “Crisis” that “No one can deny”, who trains ” pain “ and “Loss of meaning”.
Magistrates exercise a “Passion job”, said Mr Molins. “A passion for justice which has, perhaps wrongly, led us to accept for too long what should not be, that is to say the chronic insufficiency and the inadequacy of the means which are available to us. given daily to fulfill our missions (…), which in reality could only be achieved thanks to the unlimited dedication of magistrates and judicial officials ”, he added
Mr. Molins underlined the recent efforts to increase the budget of the ministry, which has seen two successive increases of 8% in the last two years, and to recruit. “But these efforts, and in particular those made over the past year through the recruitment of a thousand contract workers, apart from being insufficient, are they not in reality the expression of a certain lack of confidence on the part of the State? in his righteousness? “, asked Mr. Molins. “If this trust existed, it is [des] creation of permanent jobs for magistrates and clerks who would have intervened ”, he estimated.
The wrath of the keeper of the seals
At the end of the speech, Mr. Dupond-Moretti had a tense exchange with Mr. Molins, before describing to his collaborators the words of the Attorney General of “Scandalous”, noted a photographer from Agence France-Presse (AFP). The Keeper of the Seals then exchanged with the Prime Minister on leaving the Court of Cassation, repeating the term of “Scandalous”.
Contacted by AFP, his entourage spoke of a “Frank exchange”, arguing that “The part of the speech concerning the hiring at the ministry was truncated and false”. He assured that « 2 000 » and not 1000 contract workers had been hired and regretted that Mr. Molins did not mention the announcements aimed at increasing the number of magistrates.