Jean-François Ricard (born 14 July 1956) is a French

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

, and since 25 June 2019 the first prosecutor of the National Terrorism Prosecution Office (; PNAT) a '' parquet'' for the prosecution of

terrorism in France Terrorism in France refers to the terrorist attacks that have targeted the country and its population during the 20th and 21st centuries. Terrorism, in this case is much related to the country's history, international affairs and political appr ...

Early life and education

Ricard was born in Boulogne-Billancourt ( Hauts-de-Seine), France.

Career

Ricard began his career in December 1982 as a judge in Arras ( Pas-de-Calais). He then was a judge in

Bobigny Bobigny () is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Bobigny is the prefecture (capital city) of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, as well as the seat of the A ...

(

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobig ...

), beginning in December 1986, before joining the judiciary in Paris. Ricard worked as an investigating judge in charge of terrorism cases for 12 years. With

Jean-Louis Bruguière Jean-Louis Bruguière (born 29 May 1943) was the leading French investigating magistrate in charge of counter-terrorism affairs. He was appointed in 2004 vice-president of the Paris Court of Serious Claims (''Tribunal de Grande Instance''). He ...

, Ricard was in charge of the file of the

1996 Paris RER bombing On 3 December 1996 an IED detonated on the southbound tracks of the Port-Royal Réseau Express Régional (RER) station in Paris, France. Four people were killed in the bombing: two French citizens, a Moroccan and a Canadian. Following the bomb ...

on the

Réseau Express Régional The Réseau Express Régional ( en, Regional Express Network), commonly abbreviated RER (), is a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. It acts as a combined city-centre underground rail system and suburbs-t ...

in Saint-Michel. Ricard left his role as an investigating judge in 2006. From 2006 to 2008 Ricard was seconded to the Ministry of Armed Forces, where he led a team as head of the military criminal affairs division. Between 2009 and 2015, he was general counsel at the

Court of Appeal of Paris The Court of Appeal of Paris (french: Cour d'appel de Paris) is the largest appeals court in France in terms of the number of cases brought before it. Its jurisdiction covers the departments of Paris, Essonne, Yonne, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint- ...

. Ricard requested the trial of the terrorist Carlos the Jackal in 2013. Beginning in 2015, Ricard was adviser to the criminal chamber of the French

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

French National Terrorism Prosecution Office

Ricard advocated for the creation of a French national anti-terrorism prosecution along with Magistrate

, Michel Debacq (former head of the specialized section of the Paris prosecutor's office), and (former chief of staff of

Christiane Taubira Christiane Marie Taubira (; born 2 February 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Justice of France in the governments of Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls under President François Hollande from 2012 until 20 ...

and

Élisabeth Guigou Élisabeth Guigou (; born Élisabeth Vallier; 6 August 1946) is a French politician of the Socialist Party who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2002 until 2017, representing Seine-Saint-Denis' 9th constituency. Early life and ...

). After the receipt of the opinion of France's Superior Council of the Judiciary (; CSM) at its meeting of 21 May 2019, the 62-year-old Ricard was appointed General Counsel at the

to exercise the function of anti-terrorism public prosecutor at the

Tribunal de grande instance de Paris The ''Tribunal judiciaire de Paris'' (abbreviated TJ; in English: ''Judicial Court of Paris''), located at the Judicial Campus of Paris in Batignolles, is the largest court in France by caseload. It replaced the capital's former ''Tribunal de gran ...

, heading a new National Terrorism Prosecution Office (; PNAT), beginning on 25 June 2019. He leads a team of 25 magistrates. His reputation among his colleagues was that he is uncompromising and perfectionist. Magistrate

said: "He is a very good magistrate with good understanding on major cases of radical Islamism. A hard worker and very meticulous, he knew the files by heart." During his time in office, Ricard led investigations into a stabbing attack near the former offices of the magazine '' Charlie Hebdo'' in September 2020, the

murder of Samuel Paty The murder of Samuel Paty (), a French Secondary education in France#Collège, secondary school teacher, took place on 16 October 2020 in Éragny-sur-Oise, a suburb of Paris. Paty was killed and Decapitation, beheaded by an Islamic terrorism, Is ...

in October 2020, the 2020 Nice stabbing later that month, and the

Rambouillet knife attack On 23 April 2021, a man stabbed a police employee to death at a police station in Rambouillet, France. Attack At around 2:20pm on 23 April 2021 a fatal stabbing occurred in Rambouillet, Yvelines, Île-de-France. An unarmed administrative assis ...

in April 2021. Shortly after the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, Ricard opened three inquiries over possible war crimes in the Ukrainian towns of Mariupol, Gostomel and Chernihiv, all related to acts against French citizens in the country.Benoit Van Overstraeten (5 April 2022)
France opens inquiries over possible war crimes in Ukraine
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricard, Jean-François 1956 births People from Boulogne-Billancourt Living people 20th-century French judges 21st-century French judges