The Chancellery wants to better assess the magistrates

The Chancellery wants to better assess the magistrates






Judges attend the ceremony of the wishes of the Court of appeal of Paris, January 11, 2011. Photo credits: AFP/MARTIN BUREAU.

Seniority is currently a paramount, and probably the only one that does not give rise to controversy. A system which does not always distinguish the most deserving poor elements.



Put an end to the so-called "of the sloping kick" ironic expression of an attorney, or, at least, better manage careers. It is one of the objectives pursued by the Chancellery, who has just completed the development of a new method of evaluation of the magistrates. For nearly a year, a working group has sought to flat set the criteria underlying the rating by the heads of jurisdiction and courts. A new grid was written to be used for the first time from next autumn.

The subject is particularly sensitive to the judicial body quick to fight against all possible forms of impairment to independence"in the exercise of the profession. Management of the careers of judges suffers a kind of passivity coup: seniority is a paramount, and probably the only one that does not give rise to controversy. Michèle Alliot-Marie, upon arrival at the Justice Department had been surprised by this operation, which does not always distinguish the most deserving poor elements - not necessarily penalized. This issue is corollary to the responsibility of judges.

Under the cover of anonymity, most heads of jurisdiction do not hide that complete the evaluation of one of its judges is not a simple exercise. "If poorly, there is a member of the tribunal which poses problem, he quickly get the assignment that he souhaite…." "That is found in the paradoxical to the garder… situation", explains this Attorney. Hence the temptation to assign its marks to poor magistrates.

"High potentials".

In General, gave members of the Working Group, evaluation magistrates does not quite reflect reality. A blend of career form operates. "For years, it is merely shift the evaluation questionnaire cross Leftwards - i.e."excellent"or"exceptional"columns" explains another count of jurisdiction. The same logic, almost all of the judges are offered by their hierarchy table to progress after seven years of seniority, to move to the higher rank (1 er rank). The most experienced managers know however decipher between the lines the evaluation sheets unspoken: thus write a magistrate it is "very committed" to the tribunal is a way to suggest that it does not count among the most talented. Or to speak of a "strong personality" is a form of disguised criticism.

The Working Group has therefore sought to "restore meaning to the words", says Mathieu Bonduel, President of the Union of magistrates, who participated in the work. "It appeared necessary that use"Weak"or"exceptional"qualifiers should be motivation", specifies the circular recently sent by the Chancellery. These two adjectives are the first and the last subheadings on a scale of 5, placed in front of a series of questions on the jurisdiction of the magistrate. For each of them, the heads of jurisdiction check an adjective. "Exceptional" is very often coché…

On the other hand, for better sticking to professional practice, new grid provides differentiated according to functions - criteria of children j., training, etc. Its usefulness will however depend essentially practice. For the first time, the Chancery also launched a selection of "high potentials" operation to take responsibility. This tracking is operated on the voluntary basis, with a call for specific training. 240 applicants manifested for 40 places…