Cour de Justice de la République

The Cour de Justice de la République, the Court of Justice of the Republic, is a special French court that tries government ministers and former ministers for offences committed in the exercise of their functions. It was instituted by President François Mitterrand on 27 July 1993, after the infected blood scandal in which three ministers, including Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, were charged with manslaughter. Cases are heard by a fifteen judge panel made up of three justices of the Court of Cassation and twelve parliamentarians, six each from the National Assembly and the Senate. Complaints pass through a Petitions Commission and an Inquest Commission, and in practice few reach trial. The mixed composition has drawn criticism for partiality, and abolition has been proposed more than once, including by President Macron in 2017.