Jacques Toubon (born 21 June 1941) is a right-wing French politician who held several major national and Parisian offices. He has been serving as Defender of Rights (

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

) between 2014 and 2020.

Political career

Governmental functions

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

: 1993–1995. Keeper of the Seals,

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

: 1995–1997. Electoral mandates ''European Parliament'' Member of

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

: 2004–2009. Elected in 2004. ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

: 1981–1993 (Became minister in 1993). Elected in 1981, reelected in 1986, 1988, 1993. ''Municipal Council'' Deputy-mayor of Paris : 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995. Councillor of Paris : 1983–2008. Reelected in 1989, 1995, 2001. Mayor of the

13th arrondissement of Paris The 13th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''treizième''. The arrondissement, called Gobelins, is situated ...

: 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995. Councillor of the

: 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.

Controversial actions

Jacques Toubon is known for the controversial so-called Toubon Law, enforcing the use of the French language in official French government publications, and advertisements published in France. Since the law can largely be described as being hostile to English, Jacques Toubon is sometimes referred to, jokingly, as "Mr Allgood" ("All Good" being a translation of "Tout bon"). Jacques Toubon is also remembered for the "helicopter affair". In 1996, an initial criminal enquiry had been opened by Laurent Davenas, then head prosecutor of Évry for alleged misuse of government funds, in which

Xavière Tiberi Xavière Tiberi is the spouse of the former mayor of Paris Jean Tiberi. She is mostly known for being involved in corruption scandals in the Paris region. Xavière Tiberi received 200,000 French Francs for a report on francophonie for the genera ...

, wife of then mayor of Paris

Jean Tiberi Jean Tiberi (born January 30, 1935) is a French politician who was mayor of Paris from May 22, 1995 to March 24, 2001. , he was mayor of the 5th arrondissement of Paris and deputy to the French National Assembly from the second district of Paris ...

(from Toubon's party) was involved. ''(See

corruption scandals in the Paris region In the 1980s and 1990s there were, in the Paris region (Île-de-France), multiple instances of alleged and proved political corruption cases, as well as cases of abuse of public money and resources. Almost all involved were members of the conserva ...

''). However, this was not a full criminal investigation and no

investigative magistrate In an inquisitorial system of law, the examining magistrate (also called investigating magistrate, inquisitorial magistrate, or investigating judge) is a judge who carries out pre-trial investigations into allegations of crime and in some cases m ...

had been named. Davenas then went on vacation in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. His deputy then announced his decision to open a full investigation. The

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...

leaders were frightened by the possible implications of such an investigation, and Jacques Toubon, then minister of justice, famously hired a helicopter to fetch the mountaineering prosecutor and convince him to rein in his deputy (Davenas refused)

Jacques Toubon has been the topic of much lampooning. In addition to "Mr Allgood", ''

Les Guignols de l'info ''Les Guignols'' (, ''The Puppets''), formerly ''Les Guignols de l'info'' (, ''The News Puppets''), was a daily satirical latex puppet show broadcast on the French television channel Canal+. It was created in 1988, inspired by '' Le Bébête Sho ...

'' have referred to him as "M. Bouffon" ("Mr Buffoon").

Personal life

He was married to art expert Lise Toubon.

References

External links

Former official page
as Minister of Justice {{DEFAULTSORT:Toubon, Jacques 1941 births Living people People from Nice Politicians from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur MEPs for Île-de-France 2004–2009 French Ministers of Justice French Ministers of Culture Ombudsmen in France École nationale d'administration alumni Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement MEPs Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officers of the Legion of Honour Mayors of arrondissements of Paris