Minister unveils sweeping plans to overhaul France's justice system

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti on Thursday unveiled a 60-point plan intended to redress some of the major problems in the sector. The recruitment of judges, simplifying the penal procedure, modernising civil law and the crisis in French prisons are just some of the contentious topics included.

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti gestures as he speaks during a press conference to present his "plan of action" to overhaul the justice system in Paris, on January 5, 2023. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

The proposals are based on demands made by the legal profession and members of the public during last year's national debate on justice reform. 

"What did we learn from that consultation?" asks the minister. "That justice is too slow and too complex.

"The national debate provided the backbone for these proposed reforms. We have continued the work of consultation. We have been guided by our own thoughts and, I have no fear in adding, by our own convictions."

Because some of the minister's convictions have already seen him sharply opposed by judges and lawyers, Eric Dupond-Moretti has promised that he will meet the various bodies within the legal profession to explain his position on reform.

Judiciary budget hike 

There will be more money to spend on modernisation, on recruitment, on the provision of more prison places.

"The budget has been boosted by 8 percent every year for the past three years, for a total of 26 percent," according to the minister's figures. In cash terms, justice has gone from 7.6 billion euros in 2020 to 9.6 billion in 2023.

Dupond-Moretti hopes to administer 11 billion euros in 2027.

That money will go to finance pay increases, the completion of 15,000 new prison places, the modernisation of courthouses and the continuing computerisation of the profession.

Ten thousand posts will be opened in the justice sector, including 1,500 judges and 1,500 court clerks between now and 2027.

Reform the law, but how?

While everyone agrees that the French legal code is unwieldy and out of date, not everyone will accept that Eric Dupond-Moretti is proposing the right sort of changes.

The mammoth task of re-writing and up-dating legal texts which remain unchanged, in some cases, since the Napoleonic era, is sure to cause debate and friction. It is also likely to take longer than the life of this government. 

Dupond-Moretti hopes to see an extension of out-of-court settlements, so as to free the tribunals for serious cases.

He has promised to lessen the workload of judges.

He also wants to revolutionise French prisons, overcrowded well beyond crisis point. Various alternatives to life behind bars, among them different versions of incarceration for different crimes, are thus being considered. 

The overall aim of the reforms is to speed up the legal process by simplifying procedures. It is likely to be a slow and complex task.