The French Minister of Justice (Ministre de la Justice) is an important cabinet official in the Government of France. The current Minister of Justice is Dominique Perben .
His roles are the following:
- he oversees the building, maintenance and administrative management of the court system;
- he is vice-president of the high council of the judiciary (which oversees the career of most judges, and advises on the careers of prosecutors);
- he supervises the public prosecutors;
- he oversees the prison system; and
- he proposes bills on civil or criminal law or procedure.
An ongoing topic of controversy is the amount of control that the minister of justice should have on the public prosecution service. While it seems desirable that the prosecution should not follow the whim of the executive, especially in cases involving politicians (corruption...), some argue that a prosecution service responsible to no one could go astray.
The Minister of Justice also, as Keeper of the Seals, retains the Great Seal of France .
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