Vincent Dubois (born 5 August 1981) is a French Polynesian lawyer and politician who represented French Polynesia in the

Senate of France The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

from 2014 to 2015. He is the son-in-law of Tahoera'a Huiraatira leader

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac. He receiv ...

Education and career

Dubois was born in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. He spent his childhood and adolescence in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

, then studied in metropolitan France, in Paris, in Nice, where he obtained a master's degree in public law, then at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in England, where he obtained a master's degree in law under the Erasmus programme. After obtaining a master's degree in public economic law, delivered by the Panthéon-Assas University, he joined the CRFPA of Versailles in 2006, and obtained his CAPA in October 2007. He joined the Papeete bar in November 2007 and began his career as an associate of François Quinquis. He played rugby, and was Polynesian rugby champion several times. He was part of the French Polynesian rugby team for the

2007 Pacific Games The 2007 South Pacific Games were held in Apia, Samoa, from 25 August to 8 September 2007. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi-sport event disciplines, su ...

. Since 1 January 2012 he has been a founding partner of the firm Fenuavocats. He made himself known to the general Polynesian public in certain criminal cases with strong local media resonance. He is notably the lawyer for Henri Haiti, in the case of the assassination of the German tourist Stefan Ramin, and of Rere Puputauki, in the case of the sinking of the ''Tahiti Nui IV'' and the disappearance by journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud.

Political career

Dubois went into politics after meeting Cora Flosse, daughter of Gaston Flosse. He was 17th on the "Punaauia To'u Oire" list of MP Jean-Paul Tuaiva, defeated in the 2014 municipal elections in the municipality of

Punaauia Punaauia is a commune in the suburbs of Papeete in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. Punaauia is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, themselves part o ...

. He then successfully led the campaign of

Maina Sage Maina Sage is a French Polynesian politician and former Cabinet Minister. She was a member of the Assembly of French Polynesia from 2008 to 2017, and a member of the National Assembly for the 1st constituency of French Polynesia from 2014 to ...

, Tahoera'a Huiraatira candidate in the 2014 by-election in

French Polynesia's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of French Polynesia is a French legislative constituency in French Polynesia. Following the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies, which came into application for the June 2012 legislative election, the ...

to rep ace Édouard Fritch. He was elected senator of French Polynesia on 28 September 2014. During the sitting for the election of the President of the Senate on 1 October 2014, he was secretary of session, being one of the six youngest senators of France. In the Senate, he sat with the UDI-UC group and was a member of the Committee on Constitutional Laws, Legislation, Universal Suffrage, Regulations and General Administration as well as the Senate Overseas Delegation. His election was annulled by the Constitutional Council on 6 February 2015. He contested the by-election to succeed himself on 3 May 2015, winning 34.3% of the vote. He was the Tahoera'a Huiraatira candidate in French Polynesia's 3rd constituency in the 2017 French legislative election, finishing third in the first round with 27.6% of the vote. As a result, he did not progress to the second round. He subsequently endorsed Moetai Brotherson in the second round.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubois, Vincent Living people 1981 births People from Cannes French Polynesian lawyers Tahoera'a Huiraatira politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of French Polynesia