Tiffany Ozier.

In SittingHer first novel, Tiffen Ozier, draws on her profession as a lawyer to portray her heroine, Diana, who is charged with defending Laura, accused of murder; he killed his partner who beat him with a knife and behaved violently for a long time. time… Brigitte Macron’s third daughter signs a blockbuster fiction that expertly shines a light behind the scenes of a criminal court while pleading for a more humane justice.

Madame Figaro . – You are a lawyer, like your heroine. What connection would you make between your profession and this novel?
Stephen Ozier.– Unlike Diana, I am not a criminal lawyer, I deal with business law and labor law, but of course I tried to use my professional experience. During the closing of factories in the North, I had to defend people, people whose jobs were for life, whose fathers had worked there until they retired and they took over… Early in my career, I also studied criminal law; , and I was very marked by this world, the cases conducted and the legal response given to them. I have always wanted to make the law accessible to everyone, because we are all governed by it without necessarily understanding its mechanisms. The idea was to bring readers to the criminal court. Many feel that we only find Michel Fournieres or Guy Georges, when far more often we are dealing with Mr. and Mrs. Everman whose trajectory has been derailed by competition. circumstances that could not always be foreseen… The media tend to present justice in a sensational way, when I think it is important to humanize it.

Thus, the perception that the jury has of the accused is an important element…
This is the side of the business that appeals to me. In fact, few people know about presenting the case: the lawyer, the prosecutor, the judge. And that is specific to the activity of the court of cassation. Therefore, the image that the accused give of themselves has a decisive influence on the sentences handed down. Someone who is very intelligent can be perceived as cold, someone dismisses as indifferent. How we express ourselves to our peers has implications for justice. Either way, there is an element of strategy that consists of anticipating what the jury will think in order to figure out how best to present their case. I had to protect a man who killed his neighbor during a fight. It turns out that he was also very kind to the elderly and treated his mother with great care. Therefore, it seemed interesting to me that women of a certain age were part of the jury…

Why did you focus your novel on two incidents: the incest of a little girl, the murder of a man by a woman who was a victim of domestic violence?
In both cases, they are symptoms of practical points of justice, which, in my opinion, require reflection. The Bouillon bar, where I come from, remains very prominent in the Outreau affair. Questioning how we collect children’s words, how we support them in reconstructing the procedure and the facts, seems fundamental to me. The case of Laura, who killed her isolated, beaten and tortured husband, is a symbol of something else. how the victim, because the trial times are too long, ends up playing the executioner… Jacqueline Sauvage’s case is about everything. The presidential pardon granted to him only solves the case of one person. And the others?

Does your novel also have a political title?
No, it’s not a manifesto, it’s more of a cry from the heart of a lawyer for justice, as I’ve experienced it, for people to understand how the system works so they can help themselves. Which doesn’t stop me from getting personally involved. I am the godmother of the digital platform DroitsDirects.fr, created as a result of the association Droits d’urgence, which supports victims of domestic violence. The aim is to speed up the process by allowing victims to take action online. Some, for various reasons, will not go to the police station, but need access to information, for example, regarding emergency accommodation, what they can do with their children… The platform is being tested in my region, Pas-de-Calais. , with forensic pathologists, prosecutors, lawyers, professionals from all fields who come together to think how to coordinate their actions, share information and support those who need it, because there are often missing links in the chain, to the detriment of the victim. .

Many people feel that we only find Michel Fournier or Guy Georges when we are dealing much more often with Mr. and Mrs. Everman.

Tiphaine Auziere

Are you inspired by real news? ?
The book was also born from the desire to rewrite certain trials in which I had intervened, to repair what could not be repaired in reality. There is an art of nuance in novels that I often miss in life… I think of authors like Delfina de Vigan; Loyalties or Karine Tuyl human stuff who so subtly reveal the psychology of their characters. At a time when we are asking a lot of questions about artificial intelligence and predictive justice, I wanted to ask for a justice that, to be fair, must be human, to do justice in a different way.

How did your family receive your book?
My kids, who are 10 and 8, are too young to read it, but I hope they enjoy discovering it. I also went to the end for them, it was a way to tell them. “Don’t limit yourself. Do what you want to do. Jump into your projects, even if you’re told you’re not cut out for it. I wrote a novel, if you want to start a business, travel the world, go on an adventure, whatever, go for it…” Giving the book to my mother was not easy. She means a lot to me, during my studies she was very present as a mother and as a teacher, and I was worried because I know the level of her demands. However, he paid me the greatest compliment. he told me that he was very excited and that he blamed himself for not discovering this gift and this talent earlier; a real compliment from mom! My mother-in-law promised that she would read it soon, but her schedule is a bit tight…”