France to rein in judges' power

A Parisian browses through former French President Jacques Chirac's memoir "Chaque pas doit etre un but" (Every Step Must Be a Goal) in a Paris bookstore yesterday.

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FRANCE'S investigating judges are a powerful lot: They can order phone taps and home searches, interrogate terrorists and bring down politicians. One has even ordered former French President Jacques Chirac to stand trial.

Those sweeping powers may soon end.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's government is drawing up a reform plan to do away with investigating judges - a two-century-old Napoleonic legacy - and give more power to prosecutors. Advocates say the plan will prevent miscarriages of justice by powerful, independent magistrates, while critics see it as self-defense by leaders who want to avoid prosecution.

"This is an attempt to get control of the justice system," said Marc Trevidic, who heads the French Association of Investigating Magistrates.

Investigating judge Xaviere Simeoni probed corruption allegations swirling around Chirac's 1977-1995 tenure as Paris mayor for a decade before making the bold move to send him to trial.

Magistrates' unions said the Chirac case never could have gone so far without the far-reaching independence of investigating judges.

Investigative judges handle only a small percent of the most serious cases, leading probes, questioning suspects and deciding who will be charged and tried.

A commission that handed its reform proposal to the government recently suggested that investigations be led by prosecutors instead of judges. Critics say that is problematic because prosecutors report to the Justice Ministry while investigating judges don't and have great freedom.

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