French magistrates go on strike over work conditions that encourage 'cheap justice'

Unions representing magistrates, lawyers and clerks have called for demonstrations and strikes across France on Tuesday to protest against deteriorating work conditions which, they say, are creating a system of "cheap justice".

A courtroom in Paris (illustration) © AFP/Thomas Coëx

Rallies are set take place during the day - particularly in Paris -  to express frustration over  the "titanic workload".

Burnout

The president of the Magistrates Union (USM) Ludovic Friat told France Info on Tuesday: "We wanted to draw the attention of political decision-makers again because in the courts, the feeling is that the situation has not improved at all but rather that it has deteriorated.

"In the end, we have a results that are not satisfactory either for them (the judges) or for our fellow citizens."

He added that burnout is not only symbolic in the justice system but "widespread", and that there are people in the courts "who are burnt out or who feel unwell at home or in their office because they can't cope".

Judge Viviane Brethenoux, also speaking to France Info, said magistrates are in  a "permanent emergency, under pressure from numbers, when deep down, we want to do this job because we love people," and spoke of "ethical suffering" among her colleagues.

Magistrats, avocats et greffiers seront dans la rue ce mardi contre «une justice au rabais» - La Voix du Nord https://t.co/tgAQqWValY

— USM-Lille (@UsmLille) November 22, 2022

The protests and strikes come a year after the suicide of a young judge in northern France, which spurred an opinion piece published in the daily Le Monde signed by 3,000 judges.

It created an electric shock and alerted the general public to the working conditions of the institution and has now been signed by nearly 8,000 magistrates, court auditors and clerks.

The government investigated the issue and found that the France’s legal institution was indeed "in an advanced state of disrepair".

Recruitment, pay rise not enough

The justice ministry responded by obtaining a third consecutive increase of 8 percent of its annual budget for 2023, to the tune of around €10 billion.

Justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti hailed the budget increase and said a new action plan for the profession would be announced soon.

The government says it will recruit 8,500 additional magistrates and judicial personnel by the end of President Emmanuel Macron's second five-year term and has announced a salary increase of €1,000 per month on average for judicial judges.

"While recruitment of magistrates and registry officials are planned for 2023, they are largely insufficient and no clear action plan has been defined”, the unions said.

The government also has plans to create additional jobs for occupational health nurses in 2023 to strengthen preventive medicine and detect signs of burnout. It also plans to recruit psychologists and ergonomists.

According to the Council of Europe, France allocates less budget to justice than its European partners with comparable GDP: it devoted €72.50 per inhabitant to it in 2020, against €82.20 in Italy, €88 in Spain, or €140.70 in Germany.