Up To Date france

The French Justice minister Michele Alliot-Marie has defended proposed reforms to criminal procedure in France.

Ms Alliot-Marie spoke out in support of plans to scrap the current system of investigating magistrates – judges that carry out their own independent investigations in complicated or serious cases.

Currently, only five per cent of French court cases employ these types of presiding judge, and the system has come under fire in recent years, most notably after a number of innocent people were wrongly convicted on child sex charges based on the evidence of an investigating magistrate.

As a result French president, Nicola Sarkozy has called for the system to be overhauled and Ms Marie-Alliot will now lead a consultation on the future of the justice system.

Ms Marie Alliot told reporters that the undertaking was a “complete overhaul of criminal procedure” and not simply an attempt to eradicate the once respected investigating magistrate position.

However critics have questioned whether the removal of the position will lead a loss of autonomy for the courts – with the prosecution taking sole responsibility for the investigation of alleged offenses.

Speaking in Le Parisien this week, the justice minister said: “The Ministry of Justice will not be able to prevent the opening of an investigation, and if it did, the prosecution would be obligated to disobey: this will be written into the law.

 “If the prosecution does not open an investigation, the plaintiff will have the right to request one.”

A French Chateau passed down from generation to Generation since the Second World War, has been revealed to have been confiscated from a Jewish businessman by the Vichy Republic.

The Chateau de L’Ecluse (Chateau of the Lock) at La Ferté-Imbault was bought in 1941 by First World War veteran Fernand Pleé, but recent research revealed it had been taken by force from its original owner.

Now the local Mayor is pressing for the family, who believed the historic building to be part of their family history, to be classified as possessors rather than owners of the site – a distinction that will mean they have little recourse against planned industrial building nearby.

The mayor of Salbris – a village just outside Orlean – Jean Pierre Albertini, discovered the chateau’s murky past while attempting to fight a court case against the descendents of Mr Pleé, who are opposing the construction of a shipping depot on neighbouring land.

The family have been informed that, since the confiscated chateau was not handed back to its rightful owner at the end of the war as French law dictated, they could not claim the rights of the owners of the site.

However descendents of the original owner, Jewish businessman Emile

Akar, have told all involved that they have no interest on making a claim to the chateau and that they are willing to forgive the history as long as it continues to be acknowledged.

Émile’s great-nephew Jean-François Akar, 69 said: “We’re not going to take revenge on these children for their parents’ errors.”

Gironde Caviar is back on French menus thanks to sustainable efforts by a French fishery.

Reputedly introduced to the region in 1916 by a visiting Russian princess, Gironde caviar enjoyed a massive boom in the 1960 and continues in it success until the 1980s when high intensity farming and pollution finally caught up with the industry leaving sturgeon stocks severely depleted and the caviar industry in tatters.

But now a French firm, Moulin de la Cassadotte has revived the prestigious product, putting an emphasis on quality not quantity and limiting production to just two to two and a half tonne every year. Chairman of the company, Jean-Pascal Feray said: “”We could make some 5 to 6 tonnes of caviar per year but we will limit it.

“We made it our goal to make the best caviar possible for the luxury market.”

And the product certainly seems to be fulfilling its brief, gracing the tables of eateries run by such big name chefs as Thierry Marx, the Pourcel brothers and Michel Guerard.

The secret of the sturgeon’s survival lies in their living conditions and the company manages 32 fresh water ponds, at half the density of some of the more intensive caviar producers in the region.

The company also leaves the ponds at a natural temperature rather than heating the water in order to encourage egg productions.

Mr Feray said: “the sturgeon needs a quality of life. If the conditions are not right, the caviar will not be good.”