French lawyers and magistrates stage nationwide 'justice morte' protests against Darmanin’s criminal justice reforms

A rare united front

Lawyers, magistrates, court clerks and even some police officers gathered on the steps of courthouses across France on Monday, 29 June, in an unusual joint “justice morte” (dead justice) demonstration. The call, backed by the Bar Presidents’ Conference, the main magistrates’ union and several staff organisations, brought together a criminal-justice chain that rarely protests together. In Paris, a few dozen people in black and red robes demanded the outright withdrawal of the SURE (justice criminelle et respect des victimes) legislation, one day before its debate in the lower house.

What the SURE bill would change

Though the government removed a criminal guilty-plea mechanism in early June, opponents insist the text still weakens defence rights. Paris Bar President Louis Degos highlighted “the reduction of procedural regularity” and “the doubling of pre-trial detention while the accused is still presumed innocent.” In Bordeaux, local bar president Stéphane Guitard pointed to the expansion of departmental criminal courts without popular jurors and the neutralisation of certain procedural nullities.

“We are here to say that this SURE law is not acceptable.”

The Lyhanna affair and resource crisis

Tensions spiked after Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin accused magistrates of failings in the Lyhanna murder case. The main magistrates’ union fired back that the minister had “thrown magistrates to the wolves.” Unions insist the real problem is chronic underfunding. “Claiming resources is not indecent; it’s a democratic requirement,” they said at the Agen rally.

“We are not opposed to all reform. We know better than anyone that French justice is slow, under-resourced, sometimes exhausted. But the answer cannot be sacrificing the rights of litigants. The solution is known: massively recruit judges, court clerks and judicial staff.”

Nationwide mobilisation

Rallies were reported in at least seven cities. In Nantes, a hundred legal professionals stood on the courthouse steps, and a magistrate complained of daily insults. In Brest, police and victims’ associations joined the second protest in four days. The Agen and Dax bars adopted formal motions; the Dax motion read: “We refuse a flow-based justice that sacrifices humanity to statistics.” In Saintes, lawyers deliberately kept the court open because local conditions were already degraded.

“We refuse a flow-based justice that sacrifices humanity to statistics.”

What comes next

Deputies begin examining the SURE bill on Tuesday, 30 June. The Syndicat de la magistrature, through its Secretary General Mathilde Thimotée, urged rejection of both SURE and the related RIPOST bill. With the legal professions on the street and cross-party scrutiny in parliament, the bill’s path is already contested.