Jacques Chirac's trial a test on French judicial reform
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If former French president Jacques Chirac was not bothered by a controversial corruption case, Thursday's release of his first memoire would be his magnificent return to the public eyes. However, the delayed decision to order him on trial has made him an outstanding figure to test the current French judicial reform.
Last Friday, the investigative judge Xaviere Simeoni ordered Chirac to stand trial at the criminal court for complicity in "breach of trust and unlawfully use of public funds," despite the fact that the prosecutor of Paris -- an old friend of Chirac -- had dropped charges against him for lack of evidence on Sept. 19.
The Paris prosecutor had planned to appeal the decision, but finally announced a drop on Wednesday, a night before the debut of Chirac's memoire Every Step Must be a Goal.
As the definitive trial hearing was confirmed to be conducted in 2010, it was the first time in the history of the fifth Republic of France that a retired president was prosecuted at a criminal court. If he is found guilty, Chirac possibly faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros (about 223, 000 U.S. dollars).
In Simeoni's 125-page finding, she accused Chirac of allegedly creating fictional jobs for his friends, supporters and political allies during his tenure of Paris mayor in 1977-1995. However, She dismissed another accusation of "public forgeries," which is a criminal charge and might bring Chirac before the Assize Court, where serious crimes are dealt with.
Along with Chirac, two previous directors in his then mayoral cabinet and seven beneficiaries of the fictional posts would also be sent to trial, including Jean de Gaulle, a grandson of the Charles de Gaulle, the founding father of the fifth Republic; Francois Debre, a brother of the current president of Constitutional Council; and Marc Blondel, former general secretary of the Trade Union.
Chirac told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday that he had "nothing to be ashamed of," adding that he would face court "like any dutiful citizen".
"I will explain myself serenely and with determination because I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Many center-right politicians expressed their support for Chirac, while the Socialists welcomed the arrival of "justice."
Jean Veil, Chirac's lawyer, said both her client and she wished the trial would "come soon."
"This trial could have been avoided a thousand times." Frederic Salat-Baroux, Chirac's former chief of staff told Le Figaro newspaper.
"Then why is it dragged out now?" he asked.
Observers who are watching the current judicial system reform consider Simeoni's decision as an open protest against current President Nicolas Sarkozy, who proposed early this year to scrap the independent examining magistrate.
The French pre-trial examining magistrate system was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, who ruled the French First Republic about 200 years ago. Examining magistrates play part detectives and part judges. Over the past two decades, they have won the conviction of dozens of politicians and business figures.
Sarkosy planned to replace the pre-trial system with an American district attorney system, which will put the full right of charging or discharging cases in the hands of state prosecutors who are supposed to report to the Minister of Justice led by the president himself.
As unhappy judges are trying to alert the country to the dangers of what President Sarkozy depicts as a step towards efficient justice on the Anglo-American model, the trial decision on Chirac thus has strong symbolic value at this moment.
No matter whether the court trial in 2010 will be a political show or not, the French public is anticipating the truth to emerge and the judicial system to be improved.
