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Justice minister's legal reform will hamper anti-corruption fight say French prosecutors

January 28, 2021 By Pierre Januel

France's justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti is planning to bring in a raft of reforms to the country's legal system. But prosecutors and many lawyers are worried at the minister's plans to create a new hybrid status for in-house or company legal staff and to grant them the same “legal privilege” as independent lawyers. The move is designed to help defend large French companies against the long arm of the American justice system. Yet critics fear the change would stop French investigators from getting hold of key company documents and become a further obstacle to tackling corruption. Pierre Januel reports.

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A planned reform by France's justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti to allow in-house or company legal staff to acquire a new hybrid status of “company lawyer” is causing controversy in the judicial world.

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