Cour de Justice de la République

The Cour de Justice de la République (CJR, "Law Court of the Republic") is a special French court established to try cases of ministerial misconduct. Its remit only extends to government ministers (or former ministers) concerning offences committed in the exercise of their functions. It was created by French president François Mitterrand on 27 July 1993 following the "infected blood" scandal, which saw three French ministers (including the then-Prime Minister) charged with manslaughter. Before that, ministers in France benefitted from a degree of judicial immunity.

French ministers can still be tried in a "normal" French court, if the alleged offence is not related to their ministerial duties (for example, Brice Hortefeux, who was fined in 2010 for making racial slurs).

On July 3, 2017 President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to abolish the court.

Ministers tried before the CJR are heard by a 15-judge panel made up of three justices of the Court of Cassation and twelve parliamentarians (six each from the National Assembly and the Senate)

The tribunal's composition has been criticised on grounds of partiality, since the twelve parliamentarians are likely to be colleagues, or at least acquaintances, of the ministers on trial. Even the court's own current president, Henri-Claude Le Gall, has commented: "Very often the judges, whether senators or assemblymen, know the ministers they're passing judgement on very well, so they have a lot of trouble remaining detached and judging objectively."

Complaints against ministers or former ministers are lodged with the CJR's Petitions Commission, made up of seven justices drawn from the Supreme Court, the Council of State, and the Court of Audit. Anyone can lodge a complaint.

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Wikipedia