A seismic shock to the French legal system. Monsieur le Président has just announced the end of the famous and particular institution, le juge d'instruction. I must admit I've never completely grasped exactly what his/her role is - my best guess is to first act as a sort of liaison between police & prosecution on one side, and accused & defence lawyers on the other, and finally to arbitrate about whether a case goes to court. Though if you believe various French TV crime series, the juge d'instruction is the ultimate crime buster. The equivalent exists nowhere else in the world...
Whatever, Sarko's announcement has caused a flurry of disquiet and denunciation. Political opponents, lawyers and juges alike have called it yet another example of the accelerating erosion of judicial independence under the current regime. Water off a duck's back to Sarkozy...
Staying in the French judicial system, the Justice minister Rachida Dati is also causing a bit a stir at the moment. Five days after giving birth she was back at work, not in itself worthy of more than a passing comment, but allied to the fact that she's Muslim, single, and not revealing who the father is, created a storm of interest. One magazine has already been slapped with an injunction for reporting the rumour that Sarko's brother is the mystery dad after he was seen visiting Mademoiselle Dati in hospital. I never even knew Monsieur le Président had siblings...
Meanwhile France still shivers in the coldest snap for over twenty years. The thermometer hasn't climbed above zero for several days here, though Lyon hasn't seen any snow to speak of. Nor have the northern French Alps, but elsewhere there was snow on the Cote d'Azur, and Marseille ground to a complete halt a couple of days ago when more than 15cm of snow fell in one day.
