The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused, on Thursday 25 July, to express any reservations about the curiosities of the Monegasque judicial system, which a French investigating judge suffered in 2019. However, the case had been brought to the attention of the President of the Republic and had caused a slight diplomatic incident with Monaco. On Wednesday 7 August, the judge referred the matter to the Grand Chamber, the supreme body of the ECHR.
Edouard Levrault was seconded to Monaco in 2016 for three years, renewable once – renewal is not a right, but a customary practice on the Rock. In December 2018, the director of judicial services of Monaco (the equivalent of the Minister of Justice) assured him that he was in favor of his renewal, but abruptly reversed course six months later, on June 24, 2019, by soberly indicating that his decisions “do not have to be motivated”.
This is because Judge Levrault took a little too close an interest in the Russian billionaire and president of AS Monaco, Dmitri Rybolovlev, charged with active corruption and influence peddling. He had followed the indictment of Monegasque notables, including the director of the judicial police, while a hundred police officers demonstrated under his windows: the judge had even asked to hear Prince Albert, the last straw and cause of his disgrace.
sovereign state
In Paris, the Minister of Justice (2017-2020) Nicole Belloubet then believes that the affair “poses a problem of independence”and reports to Prince Albert that the matter comes at a bad time, at a time when Monaco wants to join the Group of States against Corruption (Greco). But Monaco is a sovereign state, Emmanuel Macron and Prince Albert end up reaching an agreement: Judge Levrault will not be renewed, but the director of Monaco's judicial services, Laurent Anselmi, will also be removed.
The case has caused some noise. Nine French magistrates seconded to Monaco have denounced “serious attacks on the independence of justice”and El Greco considered that“such a decision is not likely to ensure the serenity of the independent exercise of the functions of a judge seconded to Monaco”. Judge Levrault's adventures do not end there: he was prosecuted in 2020 by the new Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, for some rather lively remarks about Monaco on television – the High Council of the Judiciary, however, ruled in 2022 that he had committed no fault. The minister, on the other hand, who had been the lawyer for the head of the Monaco police, had to explain himself before the Court of Justice of the Republic, which finally cleared him in November 2023.
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Source: Lemonde
