the essential
With a constant decrease in the number of lawyers at the Lot bar, President Christophe Bernabeu points out a critical situation, damaging to justice and the rights of citizens if the situation were to persist.
Mr. François Faugère finally breathes. It's a Tuesday, but now this old hand from the Lot bar, officially appointed to the criminal hotlines, has been in police custody throughout the entire department since Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Last weekend, his duty ended, but it is necessary to assist his clients who are then presented in immediate appearance in the following week. “I'm blown away,” he whispers again, closing his eyes, during a recess of the hearing. He, just like the lawyers of the Lot bar, wets the robe as much as he can. And while he still holds.
“We lose money quickly”
This is because the situation is becoming considerably tenser, year after year, for the department's lawyers: “There were 47 of us in 2017. There are 38 of us today,” says the president of the bar, Me Christophe Bernabeu. And we have to go back to 2020 to see the arrival of a new black dress. Four years of scarcity finally broken by the arrival of two student lawyers who will take the oath at the end of the year and arrive in 2025. “But we have two retirements,” corrects the President.
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Urban tropism of young people, difficulty in going to a department where the partner will not be able to find work, or even the desire to make oneself known quickly explain more or less this difficulty in renewing the black robes of the bar. There is also a specificity of Lot with a fragmented department: “In Toulouse, the lawyer goes to do his criminal duty at the police station, then goes on foot to the court. We have a police station in Cahors and 25 gendarmerie brigades. When we are on duty, we run from Cajarc to Martel via Castelnau-Montratier. » Travel at the expense of the lawyer, who is paid €300 excluding taxes whether for a half-hour hearing or 48 hours of police custody. “The activity of a Lot lawyer costs him approximately €60 per billable hour with his charges. We lose money quickly,” underlines Christophe Bernabeu.
However, these criminal hotlines are essential for citizens, allowing them to benefit from the assistance of a lawyer at any time of the day, and any day of the year. Except that for black dresses, it becomes more and more complicated: “A few years ago, we could only have one immediate appearance per month. Today, we have two per week,” continues the president. An explosion of criminal matters due to the action of the prosecution. Which can be explained both by the increase in crime – the emergence of drug trafficking which did not exist before, for example – but also by facts which were less prosecuted before, such as domestic violence.
“It will become complicated for the prosecution, the court, the gendarmes and the citizens”
To cope, the Lot bar had to adapt. Where only one lawyer was on duty per week a few years ago, there are now three almost full-time for the week: “When I'm on duty, it's simple, I don't make any other appointments. you, I know that I will not be able to take them on,” a lawyer confided to us. Added to this is a lawyer responsible for minors – a system in place since May 2023 – and another for forced hospitalizations. The latter, every Tuesday, goes to the Camille Miret Institute in Leyme to check the conditions of patients hospitalized under duress.
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Faced with this pace, how are lawyers doing? “There is a global attrition because the lawyer is also in contact with a suffering humanity. But for now, they are holding up, we have a lot of volunteers full of energy. But the day they give up, it will become problematic,” predicts the president, who speaks of an already critical situation.
What solutions, then? A price increase to attract new recruits? Or simplify police custody by grouping them into three or four main points in the department? The latter is an option considered by Christophe Bernabeu, who wishes, in any case, to discuss it with the future public prosecutor of Cahors whose arrival is awaited.
A solution, in any case, will have to be found if, in less than eight years, the bar still has 10 fewer lawyers: “Otherwise we will experience lawyer deserts, just as we experience medical deserts. And it will become very complicated for the court, the prosecution, the police and the citizens. »
