A team of the High Inspector of Justice Office, consisting of inspectors, assistant inspectors and members of the cabinet, conducted a 5-day study visit to the General Inspection of Justice of France, in Paris, with the support of Expertise France and EU4Justice.
At the beginning of the visit, the HIJ team was welcomed by the Chief of the General Inspection of Justice, Mr. Christophe Straudo, who made a presentation of the various functions of the General Inspection of Justice and the dimensions of the inspection work.
The delegation of the High Inspector of Justice Office had working sessions with the team of the Department of Ethics at the General Inspection of Justice of France. The head of the department Ms. Béatrice Del Volgo and the inspectors of this department, Ms. Marjorie Obadia and Mr. Ludovic Belfanti conducted presentation sessions on ethics and pre-disciplinary procedure of magistrates, as well as administrative investigations, methodology, the right to defense, objectivism techniques, which were followed by professional discussions with the HIJ team. The HIJ team had a work session at Paris Judicial Court, where it was welcomed by the president of this Court, Mr. Stéphane Noël and the head of the Prosecution Office attached to this Court, Ms. Laure Beccuau, who presented the organization and operation of the court and prosecution office, as well as focusing on the ethics of judges and prosecutors, aiming at the role of the president of the court and the head of prosecution office. Then, the team of the High Inspector of Justice Office had a working session with the President of the Ethics College of the Ministry of Justice, Mr. François Feltz, who presented the role and conditions for establishing the structure of the College of Ethics, its organization and ways of operating. During a visit to the National School for the Judiciary in Paris, the HIJ delegation was welcomed by the director of the school, Ms. Nathalie Roret, while later, the training and external relations team, presented to the HIJ team the functions of the school which focuses on the training activities of magistrates in the field of ethics. The disciplinary procedure of magistrates was presented to the HIJ delegation in a special work session by Ms. Soizic Guillaume, deputy Director of Human Resources for the judiciary, followed by discussions on concrete work experiences. This study visit of the HIJ team to gain firsthand knowledge of the French practice, comes within the framework of professional exchanges between the two inspection institutions, starting with the training visits of French inspectors to Tirana in 2021 and 2023. The visit was made possible by the support of Expertise France and EU4Justice.
