Court trial delays for prisoners
Shortage of staff to transport suspects to court means many trials could have to be postponed
MAGISTRATES court trials in eastern France could have to be postponed due to a shortage of prison staff to transport suspects to the hearing.
From tomorrow, the transport of prisonners to attend court trials will no longer be the responsibility of the police. Tranfers to the tribunal will become the responsibility of the prison administration.
No additional funds were however provided to cover the additional responsibilities and as a result, it is feared that several trials will have to be postponed.
It is a situation that could in the longer term affect the whole of France.
The magistrates union USM said that some tribunals in Metz, Nancy and Riom had already experienced problems.
The justice ministry said these issues would be resolved before the reform is put into place but already the USM indicated that due to lack of staf, a dozen trials in Nancy will have to be re-scheduled and those in Sarreguemines could only take place on a Friday morning.
Videoconferencing will enable prisoners to attend trials remotely and an additional 200 positions will be created, but not until 2012.
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