French lawyers demand ‘dignified’ work conditions (VIDEO) — Analysis
French legal personnel and magistrates went on strike Wednesday demanding greater funding and improved working conditions.
In Paris, Magistrates, Lawyers, and Court Clerks held rallies demanding justice outside of Paris courthouses. “dignified”Conditions for work, postponement and cancellation of hearings
17 trade unions announced Wednesday’s protests and called for an end to the violence. “general mobilization for justice.” The strike was supported by the Court of Cessation, the highest court in the county’s judicial system, which said it “could not remain silent at a time when despair affects those who try, sometimes at the cost of sacrifice or tragedy, to carry out justice.”
French media reported that lawyers complained of feeling depressed and overworked during rushed hearings at understaffed and poorly funded courts. Some cases reported that judges were told to give their opinions on divorcing cases and pressured into closing hearings. “in 15 minutes,”Without allowing the other parties to speak.
A number of magistrates discussed attending the funeral of their colleague, a 29-year old woman who died in August in an open letter that was published in Le Monde. This young lawyer was forced to work “faster and faster,”However, he refused “make priority of quantity over quality.”
“Like many, she worked on most of her weekends and during vacations, but that was not enough,”It was read. France Info radio reported that the appeal had received 7,550 signatures by legal practitioners by week’s end.
Claire Dujardin, the president of the French Lawyers’ Union, told the radio station that current conditions place legal professionals in an “untenable dilemma: to make decisions quickly but poorly, or to take the time to make them properly but with unacceptable delays.”
Dujardin added that France’s judicial budget ranks 14th of the EU’s 27 member states. She suggested that France should increase the number of clerks and magistrates.
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