Guest of the Grand Jury on Sunday program on the RFM, on April 13, the former Minister of Justice, Me Doudou Ndoye, delivered a clear analysis on the organization and composition of the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM), key body of judicial governance in Senegal.
“If I had a choice to be made I would say that the head of state would not be a member of the Superior Council of the Magistracy,” said the lawyer, while specifying that the President of the Republic would not be completely excluded from the process: “Any decision of the Superior Council of the Magistracy will be submitted to him so that he can control and bring his visa before it is applied. »»
A nuance which, according to Me Ndoye, aims to preserve the balance between judicial independence and institutional authority, while placing the milestones of a more ambitious overhaul of the presidential function. “I want a real head of state at the head of Senegal,” he said, insisting on the need for strong structural reforms.
-Arrested on the possibility of opening the Superior Council of the Magistracy to other components of the Company, Me Ndoye opposed a categorical refusal: “No. Absolutely not. For him, the CSM is a specialized institution, which must remain in the hands of those who know the mysteries. “The magistrate is the magistrate. The magistrate is a firm body, a body that must be respected, ”he argued with force.
And to conclude: “The Superior Council of the Magistracy, which takes care of the career of the magistrates, can only be made up of magistrates, just as the National Assembly can only be made up of deputies. »»
Remarks that relaunch the debate on the independence of justice and the role of the President of the Republic in judicial governance, at a time when citizen expectations in matters of institutional reform are increasingly pressing.
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