Christiane Taubira, former Minister of Justice of France, introduced the fourth debate on Democratic Security which addressed the efficiency and independence of the judiciary.
Christiane Taubira, a woman of conviction, originally from French Guiana, is widely regarded as “a free electron” in French politics. She was Minister of Justice from May 2012 until January 2016 when she resigned to underscore her opposition to the changes to the Nationality Code championed by the President of France in the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks (namely the proposal to strip French nationality from dual-citizens who are convicted of terrorism).
Christiane Taubira undertook a profound reform of the justice system in the 21st century, including the reforms to the penal system in 2014 and to the French Civil Code.
In her speech, she addressed her efforts as then French Minister of justice and the obstacles she had to overcome in order to make the French judicial system more efficient and effective, in particular as regards the access to justice and the fight against corruption.
She also shared with the audience her opinion of how the tragic events of 2015 were experienced at the pinnacle of the French state, and presented her views on how to counter terrorism, on what measures should be taken to preserve the core values of the French Republic and more widely of Europe, and on how to give hope to the youth of France.
To reply to the question: “How can we guarantee the freedom and independence of our judiciary systems?” Christiane Taubira took the example of the French judicial system, looking back over its development and mapping the pathway to its increased independence along the way. She recalled the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, seeing this as the basis for guaranteeing a state of security for every citizen. She argued that in order to guarantee the security of democracy it was fundamental to give judges and lawyers space to verify the upkeep of the law – separate from the control of the executive power. Yet relations between political will and institutions of justice are sometimes extremely delicate and there has been a constant to-ing and fro-ing in these relations in many countries across Europe. The quest for democratic security must also involve an effective fight against economic crimes and corruption within the system itself, and an assurance of ethics of judges and lawyers.
For Christiane Taubira, in order to achieve true justice, we must be capable of instilling in all citizens a feeling of confidence in the public institutions that are the guarantors of our rights.
Video recording of the debate
Interview for Council of Europe TV journal
Christiane Taubira's biography