Magistrates cannot overturn a trial even if the investigation leading up to it has dragged on, the Court of Cassation ruled on Wednesday, hearing an extremely rare reversal of a major corruption trial in 2021. The Supreme Court annulled the so-called “La Défense boiler room” trial, which was decided in Nanterre and then confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Versailles in 2021.
The magistrates of Nanterre and then Versailles feared an unfair trial, as the criminal trial lasted more than twenty years. According to them, it is not possible to properly judge the defendants without being able to face them. However, one of them is almost a century old, the other with Parkinson’s disease… and the alleged beneficiary of the corruption scheme, former senator and mayor of Putou, Charles Ceccaldi-Reynaud, has died.
They then dropped all claims. On Wednesday, the Court of Cassation condemned their decisions. “Failure to be tried within a reasonable time does not in itself violate the rights of the defence“, he ordered. Like the Attorney General’s Office, which challenged the annulment orders, it recalled that the parties “guaranteesafford a fair trial even if a reasonable time has been exceeded.
Half a dozen other cases were pending this ruling
the parts”they can influence the length of the procedure by asking to conduct an investigation or close judicial information“, the court emphasized. “They can get compensation by assuming the responsibility of the state for the defective functioning of the public service of justice.“, he continued.
However, the Court recalled that excessive length of proceedings may “have implications for evidentiary value as well as sentence choice“. “The Court of Cassation tells the magistrates that it is necessary to go on a forced march during the trial.“, expressed regret to AFP Me Patrice Spinos, the lawyer of the Court of Cassation for the two defendants in the boiler house case. “The Court of Cassation did not listen to the alarm of the criminal courts“, he lamented.
Since the now-iconic boiler room case, which was overturned in January 2021, there have been half a dozen overturning rulings. Almost all of them appealed, were suspended from the court ruling. The defense boiler case must now return to the Court of Appeal.
Source: Le Figaro
