France is the second European country to have the fewest prosecutors per inhabitants, according to the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice.
Ireland occupies last place in the ranking.
The Minister of Justice Didier Migaud will ask Parliament for an increase in his budget in order to create new positions in the courts.
France is (almost) at the bottom of the ranking. Ireland and France are the two European countries with the lowest number of public prosecutors (new window)responsible for examining complaints, initiating prosecutions and directing certain investigations, according to a study by a Council of Europe body presented this Wednesday, October 16.
In France, the number of parquet floorers more than three times lower than the European average
There are 2.7 public prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants in Ireland and 3.2 in France, according to this study by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (new window) (Cepej) which draws up an inventory, based on 2022 data, for 44 of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe (Liechtenstein and San Marino have not provided data). The median in Europe is 11.2 parquet floorers per 100,000 inhabitants.
However, both countries have significantly increased recruitment, with the number of parquet floor workers having increased since 2012 by 37.2% in Ireland and 9.3% in France.
England bottom of ranking in number of judges
Still according to this report, in France, each public prosecutor handles more than 2,000 cases per year, when the European median is 204. In France, three quarters of these cases are dismissed, compared to 57% at the level European. Around one case in ten is the subject of a sanction or measure imposed or negotiated by the prosecutor and 14% are brought before the courts to be judged (32% at European level).
The real budget of the judicial system (new window) represented 0.20% of GDP in France in 2022, as in Lithuania, compared to 0.24% in Malta, 0.30% in Germany, 0.31% in Italy or even 0.34% in Spain.
The number of judges (new window) in France it stands at 11.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, again below the European median (17.6). The countries with the lowest number of judges are England (2.6 per 100,000 inhabitants), Ireland (3.3), Azerbaijan (5.4) and Denmark (6.5).
The higher the hierarchical level, the more the proportion of women decreases.
European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice
According to Cepej, in France, processing times for cases brought before judicial or administrative courts are longer than the median observed in Europe, except for cases brought before the Council of State, the supreme jurisdiction of the order. administrative.
The commission also notes the existence of a “ceiling the distant” in Europe regarding the progression of women in the career of magistrates, even though they have become a predominantly female profession: “The higher the hierarchical level, the more the share of women decreases”notes the institution. Women certainly represent 69% of French magistrates, but only 46% of court presidents.
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The revelation of this report comes in the middle of a discussion on the budget granted to the Ministry of Justice in the finance bill for 2025. The latter plans to reduce credits by 500 million euros. Minister Didier Migaud declared this Monday, October 14: “If we stick to the ceiling letter, I don’t see what I would still do in government“. “What I hope is that the commitments that have been made, in terms of staffing vis-à-vis magistrates, vis-à-vis clerks, vis-à-vis justice staff, staff penitentiaries are required”he added.
