Allegations concerning a senior judge at Versailles west of Paris have thrown a spotlight on the often thankless work of clerks and other staff in the French court system. Mediapart has learnt that twelve out of 15 court officials at the criminal division of the high court in Versailles have written a letter of complaint amid claims that they are being psychologically bullied by the court's vice-president.
The letter about the judge was sent to the justice system's health and safety committee the Comité d’Hygiène, de Sécurité et des Conditions de Travail (CHSCT) on July 24th 2019. In addition to how she treats clerks, the judge is said to have presided for years over hearings at which both defendants and victims are mocked and given a hard time, as sometimes are lawyers.
This formal complaint by staff was followed on August 9th by a letter from the clerks' trade union, the Syndicat des greffiers de France FO, to the judicial services management, the Direction des Services Judiciaires (DSJ), at the Ministry of Justice in Paris, with copies sent to the court president at Versailles and the state prosecutor's office. Mediapart has seen a copy of this letter (see it in full here).
The judge whose conduct has been called into question is Anne Demortière, who presides over criminal cases which are brought to trial immediately, and over criminal cases involving minors and families. A magistrate since 1980, she is now the vice-president of the High Court of Versailles, where she has been based since 2004, having previously been an investigating judge, mostly in Paris.
Enlargement : Illustration 1
“Our colleagues tell us they have been subject to real daily harassment,” said the union in the letter. The organisation said that unlike other senior judges heading criminal courts, Anne Demortière carried out “repeated and inopportune visits to the offices asking for the document about future hearings, and she checks to see if the judgements are typed out and if that's not done, even if the date of the hearing is quite far away, she complains that the judgements are not done quickly enough, but she also complains if there are too many judgements waiting for her signature”.
The union continued: “Her [written] judgements are the object of progressive corrections over the course of months, and some turns of phrase that she demands at one time then become obsolete a few months later. She often stands behind our colleagues waiting for them to write the documents to deliver, which they say is putting constant pressure on them.”
During the hearings, the union letter said, the judge denigrates the court clerks for being “too slow” and “not understanding anything”. It continued: “Our colleagues also complain of having to work at urgent speed during hearings. They complain that they cannot correctly take down the notes of the hearing, and also fill in the case referral forms, as Madame Demortière moves from one case to another without worrying about the clerk's workload. Her attitude during hearings is seen by my colleagues as particularly stressful. In fact, while up to now her bullying has been limited to our colleagues, Madame Demortière spends her hearings shouting at everyone present and the prosecution and the victims don't escape her mood swings.”
The union's letter singled out other issues, too. “To this one can add open criticism or criticism via another person of the physical appearance of the court service in general and of the service's personnel in particular, including other judges. People who are quite plump are invited by Madame Demortière to dress differently and to eat less, and as for women with large chests, Madame Demortière makes unkind remarks; it's the same in hearings.”
The letter of complaint continued: “Our colleagues complain of a daily accumulation of provocations, mockery and wounding remarks that they are no longer able to put up with and describe the situation as having become unbearable. They say they feel ill at ease and stressed, which manifests itself in irritation, trembling, digestive and sleep problems, bad backs, and some of them are falling apart, such is the extent to which Madame Demortière has pressured and belittled them.”
Complaints have already been made about the judge in the past but went nowhere. This time, however, the criticism led to an internal administrative inquiry carried out in August and September of this year by the court president and the director of the court clerks. They spoke to 18 people - the whole of the clerks team - plus Anne Demortière herself.
Most clerks detailed the harassment they had suffered and asked not have to work with her again. Anne Demortière denied doing anything wrong and said she was the victim of a plot. She declined to comment when contacted by Mediapart.
When they spoke to Mediapart several of the clerks at the high court in Versailles said they had knots in their stomach when working with the judge and some said they were unable to eat on the days they had a hearing with her. “She has her favourites and her punchbags,” said one. “She's always after us, she sets people against each other, it's exhausting. We can't go on strike or work to rule or take it to the [judge's supervisory body] the Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature. All that was left was the [health and safety committee] CHSCT.
“She's a judge who despises clerks of the court. She likes to be all-powerful. The management lets her harass around 20 officials and mistreat those who appear in court with no punishment,” said another clerk in despair. “A fortnight ago one colleague came back from a hearing in tears.” A couple who are officials at the court have been dubbed “Les Thénardiers” by the judge, a reference to the unsavoury couple in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. One clerk has been mocked for her pair of “udders” or her “large watermelons”. Another is nicknamed “ham hock”.
The judicial authorities have let this situation drag on for some time. Mediapart has received some astonishing statements from former clerks who worked for Anne Demortière when she was an investigating judge in Paris from 1984 to 2001. “I was her creature,” said one of them. “I couldn't take my annual leave, she called me at home at all hours. It was hell. I lost 8 kilos and my doctor signed me off. The management did nothing. No one wanted to work with her any more. They ended up by giving her temporary clerks.” The various reports made about her over the years did not hamper the career progress of Anne Demortière, however, who is also described as an excellent judge.
At Versailles the administrative inquiry led to few concrete outcomes. Union sources suggest that Anne Demortière refused to change her post, as the court president, Christophe Mackowiak, had suggested. Insdtead she simply agreed not to go to the clerks' offices any more. However, the head of the service locally has the power to move judges at their court or to start disciplinary proceedings. Indeed, Bernard Keime-Robert-Houdin, the top judge at the court of appeal at Versailles, who was handed the administrative inquiry report, summoned the judge to appear before him in October. But according to Mediapart's information, Anne Demortière was simply informed at the start of November that she was receiving a warning - the weakest punishment available.
'Listen madam, this isn't the place to cry!'
The way that Anne Demortière conducts hearings are said to be just as much of an issue as the way she treats the court clerks. “Our colleagues tell us that Madame Demortière behaves particularly offensively towards people appearing in court, criticising their 'stupidity', their 'lack of intelligence', their 'idleness' and even for some victims their lack of self-control when they break down into tears when details of the rape they have subjected are mentioned,” wrote the union in their letter of complaint.
Among the incidents and anomalies that regularly punctuate the hearings, Mediapart has learnt that on June 25th 2019 a young woman was removed from Judge Demortière's courtroom for no reason. She was a civil party in the criminal case, and having been summoned to appear she wanted to describe the harm she had suffered as a victim. Unable to do so, despite the help from an official from the enforcement office who came to help her in a second attempt to speak in the courtroom, the woman ended up being awarded just one euro in compensation and interest in absentia.
Enlargement : Illustration 2
As a number of lawyers had also mentioned some astonishing courtroom discussions, Mediapart went along to witness two hearings presided over by judge Anne Demortière and involving defendants who were facing immediate trials. The cases came and went; drug selling, aggravated thefts and domestic violence. The judge cut everyone short, including lawyers, did not listen to the answers to her questions, raised her eyes to the ceiling, sighed, appeared infuriated, made comments about courtroom statements and humiliated the accused who sometimes appeared handcuffed between two police officers. She exercised complete control over the hearing, did not allow the slightest noise and stopped those appearing in court and lawyers from moving around, under the threat of removing them from the courtroom.
The hearings were conducted briskly, starting at 2pm and generally ending at around 6pm. Requests to be released from custody were discussed and ruled on in 10 to 15 minutes. The accused, most of them poor and with a poor grasp of French, were interrupted during their statements and were on the receiving end of sarcastic and ironic remarks. These included: “You're innocent, I suppose?”, “I must be dreaming”, “You understand what I'm telling you?”, “That's so sweet! Is it a Christmas story?”, “Stop talking rubbish!”, “You must stop making fun of everyone!”, “Will you answer the questions? Well done sir, we're delighted” and “We have a star in the [witness] box!”
An unfortunate expression by a Portuguese defendant provoked hilarity from the judge, who repeated it to the courtroom. During defence pleadings the judge pulled a face and spoke to the usher or the court official on her left. Jail sentences and remands in custody followed at a steady rhythm. A victim of domestic violence was given short shrift by the judge. “No, listen madam, this isn't the place to cry! Why are you crying like that? Don't cry and sit down!” said the judge.
Everyone got picked on in turn. The judge interrupted courtroom discussions for the slightest reason. “Who's this lady who's coming to the front row? Are you a lawyer? And your gown, where is it? Go and change outside the courtroom!” she said on one occasion. One defendant suffering from kidney failure was allowed to drink water “but from a glass!” No one batted an eyelid.
On December 3rd, one defendant collapsed in the witness box, hit the bench and was knocked out when it was announced they would be remanded in custody. The hearing was not suspended. The judge waited for quarter of an hour for the emergency team from the fire service to arrive and then for another five minutes while they dealt with the man in the witness box. The defendant was finally dragged out of the courtroom without having regained consciousness and taken to the court complex yard where an ambulance was called. The courtroom discussions then continued.
The lawyers at Versailles have become used to Judge Demortière's unusual behaviour. She has been there since 2004 and they seem resigned to it. They rarely cause a fuss during hearings. “During one hearing when she was shouting and wasn't listening to my client's replies I was told by the court clerk that she had declared that I was unbearable and I took it up with the head of the Bar, but she later apologised,” said lawyer Isabelle Felenbok.
“She's an extremely difficult character, everyone has a bad moment during her hearings but she delivers good rulings,” continued the lawyer. “She's one of the fairest criminal court judges. We'd do anything to have our clients judged by her, you just have to brief them first. With other presidents of criminal courts the tone is more courteous but the sentences are heavier and there are more custody orders.”
This paradox is confirmed by other lawyers too; Judge Demortière is considered temperamental but also an excellent judge. And she continues to preside over hearings as she sees fit.
“What is at stake is the threatened welfare of our colleagues and of all the public servants and judges in this court service, and also the image that she gives of our Ministry [editor's note, Ministry of Justice] to those who appear in court and all the temporary staff in the justice system with her inappropriate behaviour in public in the context of her duties as a judge,” the union letter of complaint to the ministry stated.
The president of the High Court of Versailles, Christophe Mackowiak, told Mediapart that the warning given to the judge was a sub-disciplinary measure which constituted a “rapid response to a difficulty” whereas the formal disciplinary procedures are lengthy. As for moving a judge in his courts, Christophe Mackowiak said it was possible to “change a working judge depending on their specialities and their abilities, you don't mix up a civil law practitioner with a criminal law practitioner. If you have to change a posting it's really because you don't have any other solution. You also have to count on people being able to become aware of the difficulties and to change.”
The court president added: “Versailles is a jurisdiction under strain, with reforms under way and some staffing difficulties.” He added: “Our teams are heavily involved, the time we take to deliver judgements is good, and I have no complaints about any of the criminal court judges in relation to their professional abilities.”
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- The French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Michael Streeter