The National Assembly and the Senate have never refused to appoint to the Constitutional Council the personalities proposed by the Elysée as by the presidents of the two chambers and no precedent was created, Wednesday, February 23, with the confirmation of Jacqueline Gourault , François Séners and Véronique Malbec, who will take up their seats in the institution from 8 March.
The lack of experience of the Minister for Territorial Cohesion in constitutional law, the former position of cabinet director occupied by Mr. Séners with the current President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, and the presence of Véronique Malbec at the Rennes public prosecutor’s office when the case of the Mutuelles de Bretagne was closed, in which the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, was indicted, did not provoke a direct refusal from the two law commissions, despite the negative remarks from the opposition.
Jacqueline Gourault said she was “ready to do [sa] moult »
The appointment of Mr.me Gourault, 71, was confirmed by 41 votes for, 31 once morest and four abstentions (29 for, 15 once morest among the deputies, 12 for and 16 once morest among the senators). According to the Constitution, the appointments of the President of the Republic are subject to the opinion of the competent committees of the National Assembly and the Senate. Only a negative vote of at least three-fifths of the votes cast in the two commissions might have invalidated the presidential choice.
Minister since 2017, Mr.me Gourault claimed to be “ready to do [sa] moult » at dawn to enter the Constitutional Council for a period of nine years. His appointment, desired by Emmanuel Macron, coupled with a lack of legal training, was singled out by some of the opposition. The Council is not “not a political cheese”criticized MP Eric Diard (LR). “There is a subject of impartiality”insisted his LFI counterpart Ugo Bernalicis.
“We are not here to pass an oral first year law degree”, argued, in the Senate, Guillaume Larrivé (LR). For the Channel senator Philippe Bas (LR), “the Constitutional Council not only needs lawyers, but also people who know French society”. François-Noël Buffet (LR) ended this second hearing by reminding the minister of the “duty of ingratitude” of the appointed with regard to those who had appointed them, a claim formulated by two former members of the Constitutional Council, Georges Vedel and Robert Badinter. The Senate also validated the candidacy of President Gérard Larcher, that of François Séners by 20 votes for, one once morest, nine blank or null votes.
Véronique Malbec defended herself before the deputies
Former deputy director of the National School for the Judiciary (ENM) and current chief of staff of the Keeper of the Seals, Véronique Malbec, on Wednesday, “regretted that some were content to cast this suspicion by departing from the truth, from the law” by criticizing the choice of Richard Ferrand to propose his appointment to the Constitutional Council, which was validated by the deputies. Ex-prosecutor general of Rennes, she was the hierarchical manager of the prosecutor who dismissed in October 2017 the Mutuelles de Bretagne case, in which the current president of the National Assembly was implicated.
“A public prosecutor must be kept informed of sensitive cases within his jurisdiction to ensure feedback”most “a public prosecutor can never order a public prosecutor to dismiss a case”she detailed. “He can only give prosecution instructions. » MP Ugo Bernalicis said: « Mme Malbec, you should have refused the offer made to you. » “We are all interrogative, even if it is wrong”abounded the communist Stéphane Peu, considering that this entry to the Constitutional Council risked “cast a little more opprobrium” on the institution and“aggravate the democratic crisis”.
At the time, ” I do not know “ Mr. Ferrand, assured Mr.me Malbec, claiming that she had met him for the first time when she joined the office of the Minister of Justice almost two years ago. Before the Association of Parliamentary Journalists, Mr. Ferrand also assured on Wednesday that Mr.me Malbec “played absolutely no role”in the case of the Mutuelles and denounced a “bad quarrel” who “smears the honor of a woman”.
The former director of judicial services and ex-secretary general of the ministry of justice also challenged the accusations of the chained duck that she would have liked to dismiss judges from the Court of Auditors in this case. “The service of justice and litigants is my lifelong commitment”hammered Mme Malbec, claiming never to have “derogated” to “principles of impartiality, integrity and dignity”. Unsurprisingly given the majority LRM-MoDem-Agir in committee, his appointment was validated by 27 votes for, 11 once morest.
