PRESS RELEASE
02/11/2023
Flash audit
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN TO RECRUIT
CONTRACT AGENTS FOR THE LOCAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM (2020-2022)
In his general policy speech on 15 July 2020, the Prime Minister called for the introduction
“
in the regions, of local judges to deal with everyday incivilities
”. Since the usual procedures
for recruiting and training judicial staff did not make it possible to respond to this decision
in a short space of time, the Ministry of Justice gave priority to recruiting contract agents
within the courts. In July 2020, an initial circular provided for the allocation of 150 additional
jobs before the end of the financial year for the local criminal justice system in order to
contribute to a justice system that is closer to those subject to trial, to the offence and to
local partners. These guidelines were supplemented in 2020, 2021 and then 2022 by a
succession of texts that provided for the creation of new jobs and extended the scope of
missions to civil justice. In total, 2,080 new jobs were announced - taking all assignments
and categories of additional staff into account. The Court examined whether these
announcements had been implemented.
A system introduced as a matter of urgency
In the absence of any nationwide mechanism, the courts were called upon to identify needs
and allocate the jobs thus created. The different allocation methods for criminal and civil cases
enabled the Ministry of Justice to engage in decentralised management involving the courts of
appeal and the judicial courts. The implementation of the Ministry of Justice’s recruitment plan
has enabled the overall job creation target to be met. In particular, the plan has led the judicial
services to make extensive use of “project contracts”, new types of contract created by the 2019
Civil Service Transformation Act. The Ministry of Justice alone has signed 57% of the “project
contracts” created nationwide.
An observable and valued impact on the courts
These new staff have been a welcome addition to the workforce of the courts. Although it is
difficult to make a precise assessment for criminal cases, the impact on the backlog to be
cleared has been significant for civil cases, in line with the quantitative targets set. Contract
agents are employed in a wide variety of jobs. The flexibility of the concept of local justice has
therefore made it possible for them to contribute to a variety of assignments, depending on
local situations and requirements, for tasks that are not always identical. In criminal matters,
public prosecutors have mobilised them to improve the response to minor everyday offences.
In civil matters, it has been possible to undertake tasks that go beyond clearing backlogs. These
contract agents have also been entrusted with more administrative tasks, making it possible to
move away from an approach to employment that makes a strict distinction between staff
assigned to the judicial side of the court system and those assigned to the public prosecutor’s
office. In all cases, the integration of agents into the courts has relied mainly on “on-the-job”
training delivered by local players, without the involvement of Ministry of Justice schools, which
may have caused some tension.
Learnings to ensure successful recruitment in the future
The recruitment of contract agents in the local justice system represented a first experiment in
the unprecedented mobilisation of judicial services with a view to distributing additional staff
to the courts without delay and according to needs. It has helped to identify the challenges
facing the Ministry in light of the 10,000 jobs announced in response to the general assembly
of justice. With this in mind, as the Court of Accounts has already recommended, it is essential
to introduce a tool for assessing needs at local level, and for distributing and monitoring the
resources allocated, in order to guarantee efficient allocation within the courts. Furthermore,
the composition and organisation of the “magistrate's team”, which has been mooted for
several years, is yet to be defined. Lastly, the pool of potential candidates for these new jobs
and the attractiveness of the positions are also points of attention for the success of the job
creation plan set by the law on the orientation and programming of the Ministry of Justice 2023-
2027.
Read the report
PRESS CONTACT:
Julie Poissier
◼
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◼
T
+33 (0)6 87 36 52 21
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julie.poissier@ccomptes.fr
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