Lawyer for accused shocks with comments on social media

Her videos, posted on Instagram where nearly 50,000 people follow her, have been controversial since their publication, to the point where some are asking the Bar Association to “take action”. Maître Nadia El Bouroumi, lawyer for two of the 51 accused of the rapes committed on Gisèle Pelicot, drugged and delivered by her ex-husband to their home in Mazan, published stories as she left the hearing at the Vaucluse criminal court, questioning the victim’s state of unconsciousness.

Is this defense lawyer violating the code of ethics? How far can you go using social media when you are a lawyer? What do lawyers who expose themselves in this way risk? Answers from Maître Eolas, a lawyer but also a “disillusioned spectator” of this situation.

What can we say about the publications of Master Nadia El Bouroumi?

There is no principle ban on lawyers being on social networks. On the contrary, we participate in public debates. Now, there remains a question of form. This is the first time I have seen a colleague, with so much experience – twenty years at the bar – behave in this way. It is very surprising to see that she leaves the hearing, we follow her from the door, to the parking lot, to her car, where she starts to drive – which is illegal -, and that she speaks to her followers as to her friends, without thinking that her opponents or the prosecution can hear her. She describes this case as a banal argument at the coffee machine when we are talking about several dozen rapes of the same person.

She may be in a “bubble effect”, locked in the tunnel of hearings that will last three months, and does not realize what she is doing. She recently filmed herself dancing to the sound of Wake me up before you go while she is in the middle of a chemical submission affair. Either this rapprochement escaped her and she is of a recklessness that is worrying, or she did it on purpose and the principle of tact was trampled.

Moreover, it is not just one video, it is dozens. I do not understand. I share the point of view of all my colleagues, overwhelmed by the image that this gives of the profession.

Do these publications raise an ethical issue?

We must distinguish two moments in the exercise of the profession: in the courtroom and outside the courtroom. When you wear the robe, in court, freedom is almost absolute. The lawyer can go very far for the needs of the defense, depending on his strategy, this sometimes involves shaking up the victims a little. The only question that is worth asking is: does what we do have legal effectiveness?

Outside the courtroom, however, there is ethics that come into play. There are two groups of obligations, those that are in the lawyer’s oath, where we swear “to exercise our functions with dignity, conscience, independence, probity and humanity”. Then, the essential principles of the profession, now enshrined in article 3 of the code of ethics for lawyers, in a decree of June 2023: “The principles of honor, loyalty, equality and non-discrimination, disinterestedness, brotherhood, tact, moderation and courtesy.”

So there is clearly a problem of ethics. But not – yet – a breach of professional secrecy because this lawyer is not at the point of revealing the exchanges she has with her clients. From this point of view, she is within the rules.

What happens in these cases?

The Avignon Bar Association is the only one who can act, he is the prosecuting authority. He shares this role with the public prosecutor who, in the event of inaction by the Bar Association, can refer the matter to the court himself. During a high-profile trial like this one, the prosecution will do nothing, so as not to disrupt its process. Afterwards, we’ll see.

The president of the bar can therefore act if he considers that the rules are being broken. What can he do? First, by calling the lawyer to order, for example by phone call, a little “one-on-one”. If the person in question does not agree and ignores the rules, the president of the bar can initiate disciplinary proceedings. These are confidential to prevent them from damaging a lawyer’s reputation.

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So, in the case of the Pelicot affair, it is possible that proceedings are underway and that we know nothing about them. But, generally speaking, the president of the bar would need to hold a meeting with the lawyers of his bar to tell them to realize what they are doing. Maître Nadia El Bouroumi is not the only one to have problematic behavior.

Have social networks ever caused problems in the profession?

A lawyer was recently taken to task for a video he posted in which he explained “how not to get caught with wiretaps”, giving the image of a lawyer who is an accomplice to his client, telling him how to commit an offence without getting caught. Some young people want to make a reputation and fame for themselves at all costs. Others, in desperation and having difficulty getting files, launch themselves on TikTok. No, we don’t go fishing for clients on social media. There is a commission in Paris that regularly summons colleagues who cross the line.

And generally speaking, with other lawyers, we participate in training for young colleagues and student lawyers who will soon take the oath, who have all been on social networks since their adolescence, to tell them: “Beware of the dangers of these platforms. Once you become a lawyer, it’s no longer the same thing. Your past will leave traces. Be very careful about how you express yourself.”