Éric Dupond-Moretti
Éric Dupond-Moretti (born 20 April 1961) is a French-Italian lawyer and politician who was appointed Minister of Justice by President Emmanuel Macron in 2020. As a criminal defence lawyer he is renowned for his record number of acquittals which earned him the nickname "Acquitator", some of the controversial figures he defended, as well as his outspoken personality. On 6 July 2020, Dupond-Moretti took office as Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex. His appointment came as a surprise to many political commentators. Dupond-Moretti has  overseen a sharp increase in the budget devoted to the judiciary system following reports of lengthy procedures. He also successfully defended a bill in front of the French Parliament in order to strengthen the severity of the sentencing process, stating the judiciary response to crime is "too weak". Early life. Dupond-Moretti is the only son of Jean-Pierre Dupond, a metal worker from Avesnois and Elena Moretti, a housekeeper from Italy. His paternal grandparents, Achille and Louise, were also workers. Fatherless at the age of four, his mother raised him alone. Like many famous fatherless criminal lawyers in France , most notably Robert Badinter, his childhood gave him a sense of injustice. Dupond-Moretti attended secondary school at the Catholic Lycée Notre-Dame in Valenciennes where he obtained his baccalauréat. Early career. After taking his oath as a lawyer on 11 December 1984 in Douai, Dupond-Moretti enrolled at the bar of Lille. Working for a Lille law firm, he began his career in the Labour Courts and then as a court appointed lawyer under the mentorship of Lille lawyer Jean Descamps and Toulouse lawyer Alain Furbury. For his results (more than 145 acquittals in 2019), Dupond-Moretti is nicknamed  Acquittator (' + ') in the courtrooms. Notable clients have included aid group Zoé's Ark, Jérôme Kerviel and Julian Assange, but also Patrick Balkany, Karim Benzema, Georges Tron and the brother of terrorist Mohammed Merah. In 2013, Dupond-Moretti refused the Legion of Honour. Cinema. Dupond-Moretti appeared as himself in the Claire Denis film "Bastards". He also played a judge in the Claude Lelouch film "Everyone's Life". Political career. Dupond-Moretti chaired the support committee for Martine Aubry in the 2008 municipal elections in Lille. He also signed a letter in her favour in "Libération" before the 2011 Socialist  Party presidential primary. On 6 July 2020, Dupond-Moretti was named Minister of Justice (Garde des Sceaux, Ministre de la Justice) by President Emmanuel Macron in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex. In 2021, Macron directed Dupont-Moretti and Secretary of State for Child Protection Adrien Taquet to develop proposals for tightening laws regarding child sexual abuse after a high-profile scandal involving prominent pundit Olivier Duhamel. In the 2021 French regional elections, Dupond-Moretti was eliminated in the first round of the round in the northern region of Hauts-de-France where Macron’s La République en Marche  list won less than 10 percent of the vote. Later in 2021, Dupond-Moretti was placed under formal investigation by the Cour de Justice de la République (CJR) over allegations he used his minister position to settle scores with judges who had investigated some of his more prominent clients and friends, including former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Political positions. In May 2015, Dupond-Moretti declared his support for the ban of the National Front. In August 2020, Dupond-Moretti signed a preface to a book written by head of the national federation of hunters Willy Schraen, in which he mocked  environment ayatollahs. His comments, written before his appointment as minister, caused an uproar, forcing him to backtrack. Personal life. In 1991, Dupond-Moretti married Hélène, a juror he met during a trial, and they had two children. Now divorced, he has been in a relationship with singer Isabelle Boulay since April 2016. A passionate hunter, Dupond-Moretti owns a Flemish farmhouse with retrievers and trained birds for falconry.