Éric Dupond-Moretti (; born 20 April 1961) is a French-Italian lawyer and politician 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 2020 to 2024 in the successive governments of Prime Ministers

Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020. Castex served for twelve years as mayor of the small town of ...

Élisabeth Borne Élisabeth Borne (; born 18 April 1961) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from May 2022 to January 2024. A member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance (French political party), Renaissance, she is the secon ...

and

Gabriel Attal Gabriel Nissim Attal de Couriss (; born 16 March 1989) is a French politician who was the prime minister of France from January to September 2024. He was the youngest and the first openly Gay man, gay prime minister in French history. A member ...

. As a criminal defence lawyer, he is renowned for his number of acquittals which earned him the nickname "Acquitator", some of the controversial figures he defended, as well as his outspoken personality. During his tenure as Justice Minister, he was one of the most prominent members of the government. His appointment came as a surprise to many political commentators.

Early life

Dupond-Moretti is the only son of Jean-Pierre Dupond, a metal worker from Avesnois and Elena Moretti, a housekeeper from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. His paternal grandparents, Achille and Louise, were also workers. Fatherless at the age of four, his mother raised him alone. Like many famous fatherless criminal lawyers in France, most notably

Robert Badinter Robert Badinter (; 30 March 1928 – 9 February 2024) was a French lawyer, politician, and author who enacted the abolition of capital punishment in France in 1981, while serving as Minister of Justice under François Mitterrand. He also serve ...

, his childhood gave him a sense of injustice. Dupond-Moretti attended

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

at the Catholic Lycée Notre-Dame in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

where he obtained his

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

Career

Defense lawyer

After taking his oath as a lawyer on 11 December 1984 in

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

, Dupond-Moretti enrolled at the bar of Lille. Working for a Lille law firm, he began his career in the Labour Courts and then as a court appointed lawyer under the mentorship of Lille lawyer Jean Descamps and Toulouse lawyer Alain Furbury. For his results (more than 145 acquittals in 2019), Dupond-Moretti is nicknamed "Acquittator" (' + ') in the courtrooms. Notable clients have included aid group

Zoé's Ark Zoé's Ark () is a French charity organization with the aim of increasing awareness of the crisis in Darfur and providing aid for children affected by the conflict. The organization was brought into the public's awareness in 2007 with the arrest ...

Jérôme Kerviel Jérôme Kerviel (; born 1977) is a French rogue trader who was convicted and imprisoned in the 2008 Société Générale trading loss for position of trust, breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of the bank's computers, resulting in los ...

and

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

, but also Patrick Balkany,

Karim Benzema Karim Mostafa Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for and Captain (association football), captains Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Clu ...

, Georges Tron and the brother of terrorist Mohammed Merah. Dupond-Moretti chaired the support committee for incumbent Socialist Mayor

Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...

in the 2008 municipal election in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. He also signed a letter in her favour in ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' before the 2011 Socialist Party presidential primary in which she placed second.

Publications

* with Stéphane Durand-Souffland, ''Bête noire'', Éditions Michel Lafon, 2012 * with Loïc Sécher, ''Le Calvaire et le Pardon'', Michel Lafon, 2013 * with Stéphane Durand-Souffland, '' Directs du droit '', Michel Lafon, 2017

Minister of Justice (2020–2024)

On 6 July 2020, Dupond-Moretti was named

and

Keeper of the Seals of France Keeper or Keepers may refer to: People and characters Persons * Keeper (surname) * William Keepers Maxwell Jr. (1908–2000), American novelist and editor Roles * Archivist * Beekeeper * Gamekeeper * Gatekeeper * Greenkeeper * Keeper of th ...

by President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of Prime Minister

. In 2021 Dupond-Moretti successfully defended a bill in front of the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

in order to strengthen the severity of the sentencing process, stating the judiciary response to minor offenses was "too weak to be effective". In 2021, Macron directed Dupond-Moretti and Secretary of State for

Child Protection Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

Adrien Taquet to develop proposals for tightening

laws regarding child sexual abuse Laws against child sexual abuse vary by country based on the local definition of who a child is and what constitutes child sexual abuse. Most countries in the world employ some form of age of consent, with sexual contact with an underage person be ...

after a high-profile scandal involving prominent pundit Olivier Duhamel. In 2021 Dupond-Moretti oversaw a sharp increase in the budget devoted to the judiciary system following reports of lengthy procedures. In the 2021 regional election, the

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...

list led by Laurent Pietraszewski in the northern region of

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

on which Dupond-Moretti was placed was eliminated in the first round of voting. It garnered less than 10 percent of the vote and failed to win a single seat. Later in 2021, Dupond-Moretti was placed under investigation by the ''

Cour de Justice de la République The ''Cour de Justice de la République'' (CJR, "Court of Justice of the Republic") is a special French court established to try cases of ministerial misconduct. Its remit only extends to government ministers (or former ministers) concerning of ...

'' (CJR) over allegations he had used his ministerial position to settle scores with judges who had investigated some of his more prominent clients and friends, including former President

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. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

. In late 2022, Dupond-Moretti's position as Minister of Justice came under scrutiny amid the Lola affair, which saw a teenager murdered in Paris by an Algerian illegal immigrant. In Parliament, Éric Pauget of The Republicans held the Ministry of Justice "responsible" for the murder as it failed to have the perpetrator deported prior to the murder.

Political positions

In 2013, Dupond-Moretti refused the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In May 2015, Dupond-Moretti declared his support for banning the National Front. In August 2020, Dupond-Moretti signed a preface to a book written by head of the national federation of hunters Willy Schraen, in which he mocked "environment ayatollahs". His comments, written before his appointment as a government minister, caused an uproar, forcing him to backtrack.

Personal life

In 1991, Dupond-Moretti married Hélène, a juror he met during a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

; they have two children. Now divorced, he has been in a relationship with singer Isabelle Boulay since April 2016. A passionate hunter, Dupond-Moretti owns a Flemish farmhouse with

retriever A retriever is a Dog type, type of gun dog that retrieves Game (hunting), game for a hunter. Generally gun dogs are divided into three major classifications: retrievers, flushing spaniels, and pointing breeds. Retrievers were bred primarily to ...

s and trained

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s for

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

Cinematic appearances

* Dupond-Moretti appeared as himself in the

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...

film ''

Bastards (2013 film) ''Bastards'' () is a 2013 thriller film directed by Claire Denis. It stars Vincent Lindon and Chiara Mastroianni. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Marco Silvestri is an oil tanker captain wh ...

''. * He also played a judge in the

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...

film '' Everyone's Life'' (2017).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupond-Moretti, Eric 1961 births Living people 20th-century French lawyers 21st-century French lawyers 21st-century French essayists People from Maubeuge French people of Italian descent Ministers of justice of France Legion of Honour refusals Members of the Borne government Members of the Attal government