Éric Dupond-Moretti

Éric Dupond-Moretti
Dupond-Moretti in 2018
Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice
In office
6 July 2020 – 21 September 2024
Prime Minister
Preceded byNicole Belloubet
Succeeded byDidier Migaud
Personal details
Born
Éric Dupond

(1961-04-20) 20 April 1961 (age 63)
Maubeuge, France
Citizenship
  • France
  • Italy
Spouse
Hélène Dupond-Moretti
​
​
(m. 1991; div. 2016)​
Domestic partnerIsabelle Boulay (2016–present)
Children2
OccupationCriminal defence lawyer
Signature

Éric Dupond-Moretti (born 20 April 1961) is a French-Italian lawyer and politician who was appointed Minister of Justice in 2020 by during Emmanuel Macron's presidency. As a criminal defence lawyer, he is renowned for his number of acquittals which earned him the nickname "Acquitator",[1] some of the controversial figures he defended, as well as his outspoken personality.[2]

On 6 July 2020, Dupond-Moretti took office as Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex.[3] His appointment came as a surprise to many political commentators.[4]

Early life

Dupond-Moretti is the only son of Jean-Pierre Dupond, a metal worker from Avesnois and Elena Moretti, a housekeeper from Italy. His paternal grandparents, Achille and Louise, were also workers. Fatherless at the age of four, his mother raised him alone.[5] Like many famous fatherless criminal lawyers in France, most notably Robert Badinter, his childhood gave him a sense of injustice.[6]

Dupond-Moretti attended secondary school at the Catholic Lycée Notre-Dame in Valenciennes where he obtained his baccalauréat.[7]

Career

Defense lawyer

After taking his oath as a lawyer on 11 December 1984 in Douai, Dupond-Moretti enrolled at the bar of Lille.[8] Working for a Lille law firm,[8] he began his career in the Labour Courts and then as a court appointed lawyer under the mentorship of Lille lawyer Jean Descamps and Toulouse lawyer Alain Furbury.[9]

For his results (more than 145 acquittals in 2019), Dupond-Moretti is nicknamed "Acquittator" (acquittor + matador) in the courtrooms.[10] Notable clients have included aid group Zoé's Ark, Jérôme Kerviel[11] and Julian Assange,[12] but also Patrick Balkany, Karim Benzema, Georges Tron and the brother of terrorist Mohammed Merah.[13]

Dupond-Moretti chaired the support committee for incumbent Socialist Mayor Martine Aubry in the 2008 municipal election in Lille.[14] He also signed a letter in her favour in Libération before the 2011 Socialist Party presidential primary in which she placed second.[15]

Publications

  • with Stéphane Durand-Souffland, Bête noire, Éditions Michel Lafon, 2012
  • with Loïc Sécher, Le Calvaire et le Pardon, Michel Lafon, 2013
  • with Stéphane Durand-Souffland, Directs du droit , Michel Lafon, 2017

Minister of Justice (2020-2024)

Dupond-Moretti about to deliver a lecture

On 6 July 2020, Dupond-Moretti was named Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals of France by President Emmanuel Macron in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex.

In 2021 Dupond-Moretti successfully defended a bill in front of the French Parliament in order to strengthen the severity of the sentencing process, stating the judiciary response to minor offenses was "too weak to be effective".[16]

In 2021, Macron directed Dupond-Moretti and Secretary of State for Child Protection Adrien Taquet to develop proposals for tightening laws regarding child sexual abuse after a high-profile scandal involving prominent pundit Olivier Duhamel.[17]

In 2021 Dupond-Moretti oversaw a sharp increase in the budget devoted to the judiciary system following reports of lengthy procedures.[18]

In the 2021 regional election, the La République En Marche! list led by Laurent Pietraszewski in the northern region of Hauts-de-France on which Dupond-Moretti was placed was eliminated in the first round of voting. It garnered less than 10 percent of the vote and failed to win a single seat.[19]

Later in 2021, Dupond-Moretti was placed under investigation by the Cour de Justice de la République (CJR) over allegations he had used his ministerial position to settle scores with judges who had investigated some of his more prominent clients and friends, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy.[19][20]

In late 2022, Dupond-Moretti's position as Minister of Justice came under scrutiny amid the Lola affair, which saw a teenager murdered in Paris by an Algerian illegal immigrant. In Parliament, Éric Pauget of The Republicans held the Ministry of Justice "responsible" for the murder as it failed to have the perpetrator deported prior to the murder.[21]

Political positions

In 2013, Dupond-Moretti refused the Legion of Honour.

Yes, I am a free man. I am proud of being a lawyer, of refusing the Legion of Honour and the Freemasonry, of saying whatever I want to say.

— Éric Dupond-Moretti[22]

In May 2015, Dupond-Moretti declared his support for banning the National Front.[23]

In August 2020, Dupond-Moretti signed a preface to a book written by head of the national federation of hunters Willy Schraen, in which he mocked "environment ayatollahs". His comments, written before his appointment as a government minister, caused an uproar, forcing him to backtrack.[24]

Personal life

In 1991, Dupond-Moretti married Hélène, a juror he met during a trial; they have two children. Now divorced, he has been in a relationship with singer Isabelle Boulay since April 2016.[25]

A passionate hunter, Dupond-Moretti owns a Flemish farmhouse with retrievers and trained birds for falconry.[citation needed]

Cinematic appearances

References

  1. ^ "Qui est Eric "acquitator" Dupond-Moretti, l'avocat d'Abdelkader Merah ?". France 3 Occitanie (in French). 2017-12-10.
  2. ^ "Maître Dupont Moretti : avocat français de renom". Web-Libre (in French). 2010-01-10.
  3. ^ "Gouvernement Castex en direct : Darmanin nommé ministre de l'intérieur, Dupond-Moretti garde des sceaux et Bachelot à la culture". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2020-07-06.
  4. ^ "Star lawyer Dupond-Moretti named justice minister in French government reshuffle", France 24 (in French). 2020-07-07.
  5. ^ "VIDEO. 13h15. Justice : comment est née la vocation de l'avocat Eric Dupond-Moretti". Franceinfo (in French). 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  6. ^ Trapier, Patrice. "Eric Dupond-Moretti, en rage et noir - leJDD.fr". LeJDD.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  7. ^ Esther Leneman, "Les petites voix" on Éric Dupond-Moretti, broadcast on Europe 1, 2 August 2014, 2 min 35 s
  8. ^ a b "Direct du droit". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  9. ^ Bonnefous, Bastien (2012-04-27). "L'avocat Eric Dupond-Moretti : cour toujours". Le Monde.fr (in French). ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  10. ^ Porcher, Joëlle (2010-04-06). "Jacques Viguier, deux fois acquitté". Archived from the original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  11. ^ David Keohane and Leila Abboud (July 6, 2020), Emmanuel Macron appoints new cabinet with 2022 election in mind Financial Times.
  12. ^ Sudip Kar-Gupta (February 21, 2020), WikiLeaks' Assange may seek asylum in France: lawyer Reuters.
  13. ^ "Why France's new justice minister is so controversial?". The Local. France. 2020-07-07.
  14. ^ "Aubry officiellement candidate en 2014 : quels acteurs de la société civile lilloise autour de Martine ?". DailyNord (in French). Archived from the original on 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  15. ^ "La présomption d'innocence est un leurre". l'express (in French). 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  16. ^ "Dupond-Moretti annonce le remplacement du rappel à la loi par un « avertissement pénal probatoire »", Les Échos (in French). 2021-09-27.
  17. ^ Braun, Elisa (24 January 2021). "Macron vows to change law to protect children from abuse". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Justice : nouvelle hausse de 8% du budget en 2022", Le Figaro (in French). 2021-08-26.
  19. ^ a b Caulcutt, Clea (16 July 2021). "French justice minister charged over alleged conflict of interest". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  20. ^ De Clerq, GV; Vidalon, Dominique; Melander, Ingrid (16 July 2021). "French justice minister put under investigation over alleged conflict of interest". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  21. ^ Meurtre de Lola: via échange entre Éric Dupond-Moretti et un député LR à l'Assemblée nationale", BFM TV (in French), 2022-10-18.
  22. ^ Dupond-Moretti, E.; Monsénégo, L. (2018). Le Dictionnaire de ma vie - Eric Dupond-Moretti (in French). Kero. p. 133. ISBN 978-2-36658-370-0.
  23. ^ ""Il faut interdire le Front national", estime l'avocat Eric Dupont-Moretti". 20minutes.fr (in French). 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  24. ^ Elisa Braun (31 August 2020), Macron’s glue-hunting ban threatens France’s powerful lobby Politico Europe.
  25. ^ "Isabelle Boulay et Eric Dupond-Moretti rapprochés par les bonnes choses". LeGossip.net (in French). 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Justice
2020–2024 		Succeeded by