Michel Mercier (born 7 March 1947) is a French politician and who served as

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 ...

from 2010 until 2012. After studying law and graduation from Jean Moulin University Law school and the Lyon IEP, he taught finance and local government law at the Faculty of Law of Lyon III. Elected Senator from the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

on 24 September 1995, he was the right's official candidate in the

municipal elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

in 2001 in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, incumbent Mayor

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...

having refused to run for re-election. Arriving behind the right-wing dissident list supported by

Charles Millon Charles Marie Philippe Millon (born 13 November 1945) is a French politician who served as Minister of Defence from 1995 to 1997 under Prime Minister Alain Juppé. A former member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), he represented Ain in t ...

in his sector, the

5th arrondissement of Lyon The 5th arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon. History The 5th arrondissement was created on 24 March 1852 (date of creation of the first five arrondissements). It is the historic center of Lyon. It is at ...

, he decided to withdraw in favor of

Jean-Michel Dubernard Jean-Michel Dubernard (; 17 May 1941 – 10 July 2021) was a French medical doctor specializing in Organ transplant, transplant surgery who served as a Deputies of the 12th French National Assembly#D, Deputy in the French National Assembly. He ...

, who established an alliance with

. The Socialist

Gérard Collomb Gérard Collomb (; born 20 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Mayor of Lyon from 2001 to 2017 and again from 2018 until 2020. A member of La République En Marche! (LREM) since he left the Socialist Party (PS) in 2017, he was Mini ...

was elected Mayor of Lyon. He was re-elected Senator on 26 September 2004. General councillor for the canton of Thizy, he is also

President of the General Council In France, the President of the Departmental Council (French: ''Président du Conseil départemental'') is the locally elected head of the departmental council, the assembly governing a department in France. The position is elected by the depart ...

of Rhône since February 1990. Treasurer of the UDF, he remained loyal to the opposition of

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...

vis-à-vis the government of

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

. President of the Centrist Union Senate group since 2002, he remained faithful to François Bayrou by joining the

MoDem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...

. On 30 January 2008, Michel Mercier, by favouring an alliance with the UMP in Lyon, whose list was led by

Dominique Perben Dominique Perben (born 11 August 1945) is a French politician. Born in Lyon, he was French Minister of Transportation from 2005 to 2007. He was previously Minister of Justice (2002–05), Minister of Civil Service and Administration (1995–199 ...

for the 2008 municipal elections signaled his disagreement with the strategy of François Bayrou by resigning the presidency of the MoDem in Rhône. He remained MoDem treasurer and member of the executive board of the MoDem until his appointment to the government. On 23 June 2009, he joined the government of

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

as Minister of Rural Areas and Spatial Planning. He announced his

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * Gl ...

from the MoDem and was replaced as treasurer by Jean-Jacques Jégou. From 14 November 2010 he is Minister of justice in the 3rd government of François Fillon. After the defeat of

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

at the 2012 Presidential election, he was replaced by

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 ...

. During his tenure as Minister, he was criticized for his lack of communication.

Political career

Governmental functions Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice and Freedoms : 2010–2012. Minister of Rural Areas and Spatial Planning : 2009–2010. Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

for Rhône (departement) (8th constituency) : 1993–1995 (Resignation, elected senator in 1995). ''Senate of France'' Senator of Rhône (departement) : 1995–2009 (Became minister in 2009). Elected in 1995, reelected in 2004. ''Regional Council'' Vice-president of the Regional Council of

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...

: 1992–1993 (Resignation). Regional councillor of

: 1992–1993 (Resignation). ''General Council'' President of the General Council of Rhône (departement) : Since 1990. Reelected in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008. General councillor of Rhône (departement) : Since 1978. Reelected in 1979, 1985, 1992, 1998, 2004. ''Municipal Council'' Mayor of Thizy, Rhône : 1977–2001. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995. Deputy-Mayor of Thizy, Rhône : since 2006. Reelected in 2008. Municipal councillor of Thizy, Rhône : Since 1971. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008. ''Community of communes Council'' President of the

Communauté de communes A ''communauté de communes'' (, "community of communes") is a federation of municipalities (communes) in France. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together. It is the least-integrated form of ''intercommunalité'' (in ...

of Pays d'Amplepuis Thizy : 1994–2001. Reelected in 1995. 1st vice-president of the

of Pays d'Amplepuis Thizy : Since 2001. Reelected in 2008. Member of the

of Pays d'Amplepuis Thizy : Since 1994. Reelected in 1995, 2001, 2008.

Decorations

Knight of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...

(lieutenancy of France)

References

Page on the Senate website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercier, Michel 1947 births Living people People from Rhône (department) Politicians from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Centre of Social Democrats politicians Union for French Democracy politicians Democratic Movement (France) politicians Democratic European Force politicians Union of Democrats and Independents politicians French Ministers of Justice Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Rhône (department) Knights of the Holy Sepulchre