Ministry of Justice (France)

Minister of Justice - Keeper of the Seals of the French Republic Ministre de la Justice
Incumbent Jean-Jacques Urvoas since 27 January 2016
Ministry of Justice
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the Republic The Prime Minister
Seat	Place Vendôme, Paris 1st, France
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	President of the Republic
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	v. 497 v. 750: office of Keeper of the Seals of France 1790 : Ministry of Justice
Website	www.justice.gouv.fr

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French Ministry of Justice in Place Vendome, Paris, France

The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice - Keeper of the Seals (Ministre de la Justice - Garde des Sceaux), a top-level cabinet position in the French Government. The current Minister of Justice is Jean-Jacques Urvoas. The ministry is headquartered in Paris.

The roles of the minister are to:

• oversee the building, maintenance and administration of courts;
• sit as vice-president of the judicial council (which oversees the judicial performance and advises on prosecutiorial performance);
• supervise public prosecutions;
• direct corrections and the prison system
• propose legislation affecting civil or criminal law or procedure.

The Minister of Justice also holds the ceremonial office of Keeper of the Seals and, as such, is custodian of the Great Seal of France. This symbolic role is still shown in the order of words of the minister's official designation, "Keeper of Seals, Minister of Justice" (Garde des Sceaux, Ministre de la Justice).

Bureaus and offices

The French Ministry of Justice is subdivided into a number of departments, namely:

• Cabinet du ministre – Cabinet to the Minister
• Secrétariat général – Administration
• Inspection Générale des Services Judiciaires (IGSJ) – Office of Inspector General
• Direction des Services Judiciaires (DSJ) – Office of Court Administration
• Direction des Affaires civiles et du Sceau (DACS) – Office of Civil Justice
• Direction des affaires criminelles et des grâces (DACG) – Office of Public Prosecutions
• French Prison Service (Direction de l'administration pénitentiaire (DAP) – "Bureau of Corrections")
• Direction de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse (DPJJ) – Office of Juvenile Justice
• Service de contrôle budgétaire et comptable ministériel (SDM) – Office of Accounting and Budget

French Prison Service

See also: Prison conditions in France

La Santé Prison, a unit of the French Prison Service

In 2010 the prisons in the French Prison Service has one of the highest rates of prisoner suicide in Europe.

Former Ministers of Justice

1790 to the Third Republic

• Marguerite-Louis-François Duport-Dutertre, 1790–1792
• Jean Marie Roland de la Platière, March–April, 1792
• Antoine Duranton, April–July, 1792
• Étienne Dejoly, July–August, 1792
• Georges Jacques Danton, August–October, 1792
• Dominique Joseph Garat, 1792–1793
• Louis Gohier, 1793–1794
• Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai, 1795–1796
• Jean Joseph Victor Génissieu, January–April, 1796
• Philippe Antoine Merlin de Douai, 1796–1797
• Charles Joseph Lambrechts, 1797–1799
• Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, July–December, 1799
• André Joseph Abrial, 1799–1802
• Claude Ambroise Régnier, duc de Massa, 1802–1813
• Mathieu Louis Molé, 1813–1814
• Pierre Paul Nicolas Henrion de Pansey, April–May, 1814
• Charles-Henri Dambray, 1814–1815
• Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, March–June, 1815
• Antoine Boulay de la Meurthe, June–July, 1815
• Étienne-Denis Pasquier, July–September, 1815
• François de Barbé-Marbois, 1815–1816
• Charles-Henri Dambray, 1816–1817
• Étienne-Denis Pasquier, 1817–1818
• Pierre François Hercule de Serre, 1818–1821
• Charles Ignace de Peyronnet, 1821–1828
• Joseph Marie Portalis, 1828–1829
• Pierre Bourdeau, May–August 1829
• Jean de Courvoisier, 1829–1830
• Jean de Chantelauze, May–July, 1830
• Jacques Charles Dupont de l'Eure, July–December, 1830
• Joseph Mérilhou, 1830–1831
• Félix Barthe, 1831–1834
• Jean-Charles Persil, 1834–1836
• Paul Jean Pierre Sauzet, February–September, 1836
• Jean-Charles Persil, 1836–1837
• Félix Barthe, 1837–1839
• Amédée Girod de l'Ain, March–May, 1839
• Jean-Baptiste Teste, 1839–1840
• Alexandre-François Vivien, March–October, 1840
• Nicolas Martin du Nord, 1840–1847
• Michel Hébert, 1847–1848
• Adolphe Crémieux, February–June, 1848
• Eugène Bethmont, June–July, 1848
• Alexandre Marie, July–December, 1848
• Eugène Rouher, 1847–1851
• Eugène Corbin, October–November, 1851
• Alfred Daviel, November–December, 1851
• Eugène Rouher, 1851–1852
• Jacques Pierre Abbatucci, 1852–1857
• Paul de Royer, 1857–1859
• Claude Delangle, 1859–1863
• Pierre Jules Baroche, 1863–1869
• Jean-Baptiste Duvergier, 1869–1870
• Émile Ollivier, January–August 1870
• Michel Grandperret, August–September, 1870

Third Republic

• Adolphe Crémieux, 1870–1871
• Jules Dufaure, 1871–1873
• Jean Ernoul, May–November, 1873
• Octave Depeyre, 1873–1874
• Adrien Tailhand, 1874–1875
• Jules Dufaure, 1875–1876
• Louis Martel, 1876–1877
• Albert, duc de Broglie, May–November, 1877
• François Le Pelletier, November–December, 1877
• Jules Dufaure, 1877–1879
• Philippe Le Royer, February–December, 1879
• Jules Cazot, 1879–1882
• Gustave Humbert, January–August, 1882
• Paul Devès, 1882–1883
• Félix Martin-Feuillée, 1883–1885
• Henri Brisson, 1885–1886
• Charles Demôle, January–December, 1886
• Ferdinand Sarrien, 1886–1887
• Charles Mazeau, May–November, 1887
• Armand Fallières, 1887–1888
• Jean-Baptiste Ferrouillat, 1888–1889
• Jean François Edmond Guyot Dessaigne, February, 1889
• François Thévenet, 1889–1890
• Armand Fallières, 1890–1892
• Louis Ricard, February–December, 1892
• Léon Bourgeois, 1892–1893
• Jules Develle, March, 1893
• Léon Bourgeois, March–April, 1893
• Eugène Guérin, April–December, 1893
• Antonin Dubost, 1893–1894
• Eugène Guérin, 1894–1895
• Ludovic Trarieux, January–November, 1895
• Louis Ricard, 1895–1896
• Jean-Baptiste Darlan, 1896–1897
• Victor Milliard, 1897–1898
• Ferdinand Sarrien, June–November, 1898
• Georges Lebret, 1898–1899
• Ernest Monis, 1899–1902
• Ernest Vallé, 1902–1905
• Joseph Chaumié, 1905–1906
• Ferdinand Sarrien, March–October, 1906
• Jean François Edmond Guyot Dessaigne, 1906–1907
• Aristide Briand, 1908–1909
• Louis Barthou, 1909–1910
• Théodore Girard, 1910–1911
• Antoine Perrier, March–June, 1911
• Jean Cruppi, 1911–1912
• Aristide Briand, 1912–1913
• Louis Barthou, January–March, 1913
• Antony Ratier, March–December, 1913
• Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin, 1913–1914
• Alexandre Ribot, June, 1914
• Jean Bienvenu-Martin, June–August, 1914
• Aristide Briand, 1914–1915
• René Viviani, 1915–1917
• Raoul Péret, September–November, 1917
• Louis Nail, 1917–1920
• Gustave L'Hopiteau, 1920–1921
• Laurent Bonnevay, 1921–1922
• Louis Barthou, January–October, 1922
• Maurice Colrat, 1922–1924
• Edmond Lefebvre du Prey, March–June, 1924
• Antony Ratier, June, 1924
• René Renoult, 1924–1925
• Théodore Steeg, April–October, 1925
• Anatole de Monzie, October, 1925
• Camille Chautemps, October–November, 1925
• René Renoult, 1925–1926
• Pierre Laval, March–July 1926
• Maurice Colrat, July, 1926
• Louis Barthou, 1926–1929
• Lucien Hubert, 1929–1930
• Théodore Steeg, February–March, 1930
• Raoul Péret, March–November 1930
• Henry Chéron, 1931
• Léon Bérard, 1931–1932
• Paul Reynaud, February–June, 1932
• René Renoult, June–December 1932
• Abel Gardey, 1932–1933
• Eugène Penancier, January–October, 1933
• Albert Dalimier, October–November 1933
• Eugène Raynaldy, 1933–1934
• Eugène Penancier, January–February, 1934
• Henry Chéron, February–October, 1934
• Henry Lémery, October–November, 1934
• Georges Pernot, 1934–1935
• Léon Bérard, 1935–1936
• Marc Rucart, 1936–1937
• Vincent Auriol, 1937–1938
• César Campinchi, January–March 1938
• Marc Rucart, March–April, 1938
• Paul Reynaud, April–November 1938
• Paul Marchandeau, 1938–1939
• Georges Bonnet, 1939–1940
• Albert Sérol, March–June 1940
• Charles Frémicourt, June–July 1940

Vichy France

• Raphaël Alibert, 1940–1941
• Joseph Barthélémy, 1941–1943
• Maurice Gabolde, 1943–1944

Free France

• René Cassin, September 1941 – June 1943
• Jules Abadie, June–September, 1943
• François de Menthon, 1943–1944

Fourth Republic

• François de Menthon, 1944–1945
• Pierre-Henri Teitgen, 1945–1946
• Paul Ramadier, 1946–1947
• André Marie, 1947–1948
• Robert Lecourt, July–September 1948
• André Marie, 1948–1949
• Robert Lecourt, February–October 1949
• René Mayer, 1949–1951
• Edgar Faure, 1952–1952
• Léon Martinaud-Déplat 1952–1953
• Paul Ribeyre, 1953–1954
• Émile Hugues, June–September 1954
• Jean Michel Guérin du Bosq de Beaumont, 1954–1955
• Emmanuel Temple, January–February 1955
• Robert Schuman, 1955–1956
• François Mitterrand, 1956–1957
• Édouard Corniglion-Molinier, February–June 1957
• Robert Lecourt, 1957–1958

Fifth Republic

• Michel Debré, 1958–1959
• Edmond Michelet, 1959–1962
• Bernard Chenot, 1961–1962
• Jean Foyer, 1962–1967
• Louis Joxe, 1968
• René Capitant, 1968–1969
• Jean-Marcel Jeanneney, April–June, 1969
• René Pleven, 1969–1973
• Jean Taittinger, 1973–1974
• Jean Lecanuet, 1974–1976
• Olivier Guichard, 1976–1977
• Alain Peyrefitte, 1977–1981
• Maurice Faure, May–June 1981
• Robert Badinter, 1981–1986
• Michel Crépeau, February–March, 1986
• Albin Chalandon, 1986–1988
• Pierre Arpaillange, 1988–1990
• Henri Nallet, 1990–1992
• Michel Vauzelle, 1992–1993
• Pierre Méhaignerie, 1993–1995
• Jacques Toubon, 1994–1997
• Élisabeth Guigou, 1997–2000
• Marylise Lebranchu, 2000–2002
• Dominique Perben, 2002–2005
• Pascal Clément, 2005–2007
• Rachida Dati, 2007–2009
• Michèle Alliot-Marie, 2009–2010
• Michel Mercier, 2010–2012
• Christiane Taubira, 2012–2016
• Jean-Jacques Urvoas, 2016-

See also

• List of Justice Ministers of France
• Prison conditions in France

External links

• Ministry of Justice (French)
  • Living in Detention – Handbook for New Inmates – French Prison Service (English)