The Keeper of the Seals said he wanted to “halve” the time for decisions that relate to the daily life of the French, and ensures that he wants to go “towards amicable justice and mediation.”
“It’s absolutely historic.” Invited this Wednesday morning on the RTL antenna, the Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupond-Moretti, spoke at length about the justice reform project that he will present to the Council of Ministers, in response to the consultations of the States General.
“Towards amicable justice and mediation”
Initially, the minister announced “7.5 billion and a half euros of additional investment”, more than “the 2.1 billion under François Hollande or the 2 million under Nicolas Sarkozy”.
“We are carving in stone the means, there are reforms which allow massive hiring, 1,500 magistrates, 1,500 clerks, contract workers that we are going to perpetuate, they will take an oath, the hiring of penitentiary officers”, details-t he again.
According to Éric Dupond-Moretti, the main goal of the reform project is “to go faster and be more efficient”. “I want us to move towards amicable justice and mediation,” he says.
“There will be a reduction in trial times, which we will halve for what makes up the daily life of the French. On average, a procedure of this type lasts two years. It will certainly not be a justice on the cheap, even less expeditious. It allows the French to participate in the court decision, you accept it more”, he insists.
15,000 net prison places
The Keeper of the Seals also mentioned another aspect of his reform, the creation of new prison places, while the number of prisoners in the country continues to increase.
If he admits some delays on the roadmap due to the difficulty of obtaining land, the Covid and the lack of materials, the minister assures him, “we will be there.”
“In 2024, we will have taken half of the prisons out of the ground. I am opening ten this year, and in 2024 we will be there. That will be 15,000 net places.”
Éric Dupond-Moretti specifies that these new places have a triple objective: “to ensure the firmness of the penal response, better conditions of detention, and better working conditions for our prison officers.”
