Magistrates, an endangered species

A report on the reform of French criminal law procedure, presented on 1 September to president Nicolas Sarkozy, recommends doing away with the examining magistracy and reinforcing the role of the public prosecutor, under the supervision of the minister of justice, Liberation reports. Although this reform would align French procedure with the adversary system in many other democratic countries, which pits the prosecution against the defence, Libérationfears it might jeopardise the independence of the judiciary from the executive branch of government. In other countries, the daily points out, “The authorities traditionally let justice run its course. Nothing of the sort in France. For ages politicians…have been craving revenge on the little judges guilty of meddling too vigilantly in the affairs of the powers that be.” The examining magistracy, “the old flagship of judicial investigation in most Continental countries”, was phased out in Germany and Italy 20 years ago, and has only been retained in Spain, Belgium and former People’s Republics."