New Buildings for the 50th Birthday
The delegation of the UIHJ consisted in its president, Jacques Isnard, its 1st vice-president, Leo Netten, its vice-president, Roger Dujardin, its vice- treasurer, Adrian Stoïca, its secretary, Bernard Menut, and André Mathieu, Mourad Skander, Roland de Meerleer and Francis Guépin, board members. They were assisted by René Duperray, Mathieu Chardon and Luisa Lozano, respectively secretary-general, 1st secretary and secretary of the UIHJ.
Delegations from Algeria, France and Romania also joined the participants of this historical event. The National School of procedure of Paris which also attended the event was represented by its president, Abel-Didier Pansard.
The ceremonies began on 19th June by the inauguration of the new buildings of the National Order of the judicial officers, in a residential area of Tunis. Mrs. Najeh Mehadheb, director general of the Civil Affairs of the ministry for Justice and Human Rights of Tunisia, had the honor to cut the traditional ribbon. She was surrounded by Mr. Raouf Ben Sheik, general inspector of the ministry, Mr. Najib Meaaoui, public prosecutor of Tunis, Jacques Isnard and Mourad Skander. The vast and modern buildings include several conference rooms to accommodate the pupils of the recently created training school.
Mourad Skander, president of the National Order of the judicial officers of Tunisia thanked the high authorities, the representatives of the UIHJ, as well as the judicial officers of the international delegations to have honored with their presence the inauguration of the buildings. “This massive presence shows the interest in the occupation of judicial officer, in particular from the national authorities of my country. The profession evolves in a very favorable direction, thanks in particular to the solidarity which exists both on national and international levels and to the support of the UIHJ and its president” he declared. The president of the UIHJ indicated that when an organization has its own premises, it thus shows a maturity which exceeds the simple threshold of a profession. “It is a true symbol of belonging to a family” he said. And to add: “when the will of the profession creates a dependency to the development of its training, it creates a further floor”. Jacques Isnard made a point of declaring in front of the authorities how much he appreciated the presence of Tunisia, represented by Mourad Skander, within the board of the UIHJ. “Every day you show your energy and your fertile imagination. By your actions, you and your fellow-members honor Tunisia and the occupation of judicial officer in the world. Tunisia holds a great place within the UIHJ” he concluded.
An International Conference
This opening ceremony was followed by an international conference organized in Hammamet on the 21st of June on the topic of: “Fifty Years at the Service of Justice”. In front of a packed hall, the opening ceremony was chaired by Béchir Tekkari, Minister for Justice and Human rights of Tunisia, surrounded by Jacques Isnard, Mourad Skander, Khaled Atig, Deputy Governor of Nabeul, Abdelmajid Ben Fraj, General Attorney at the Supreme court, Rafiaa Ben Ezedine, first president of the Court of Appeal of Nabeul, and Khaled Hwimel, General Attorney of Nabeul.
In its inaugural speech, Mourad Skander made a point of thanking the high authorities for their presence and their support, as well as the UIHJ and the foreign fellow-members. “Our conference deals with the future and the future of justice of enforcement. We wanted it to be international with the UIHJ and the French National School of Procedure, to confirm our opening to other” he declared.
As an echo to his words, Jacques Isnard, did not fail to point out the close ties which link Tunisia and the UIHJ, by successively evoking the international congress of the UIHJ which was held in Tunis in May 2003, the presence of Mourad Skander within the board of the UIHJ since 2006 and the creation of the Tunisian Training Unit, in collaboration with the UIHJ and the National School of Procedure of Paris.
Then, on behalf of President Paul Rochard, President of the French National Chamber of Judicial Officers, Alain Bighelli, secretary of the Chamber, lengthily evoked the Franco-Tunisian friendship, “true symbol of a Mediterranean collaboration between our two countries”. “The French National Chamber can only greet the effort which is yours to want to equip your profession with a training center” he indicated on the topic of training.
Mohammed Chérif, president of the National Chamber of the judicial officers of Algeria has, in his turn, greeted the participants of the seminar and underlined the friendly relations which exist between his country and Tunisia, “the base of the success of international relations”.
George Baesu, Rumanian deputy, evoked the two Tunisian and Rumanian legal systems and invited his Tunisian counterparts to come to Romania.
Mr. Béchir Tekkari, Minister for Justice and Human rights, wished every success to the National Order of the judicial officers of Tunisia in its new buildings. He indicated that the president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali is very concerned about the professions such as judicial officer or notary. Mr. Tekkari declared that the reliability of the enforcement of court decisions reflects the health of a legal system and consolidates the State of Law. He also said he was himself very inclined “to reinforce the procedures of notification and enforcement”, by privileging the personal service of documents, which caused many applauses in the assistance. Then the Minister for Justice and Human Rights acclaimed “the immense work completed by the National Order and its president, Mourad Skander”. And to conclude on the judicial officers from his country: “We want to raise the profession, to develop its instruments and to facilitate its work for a better efficiency of justice”.
The Judicial Officer as a Privileged Partner of Businesses
The academics works soon followed. On the Tunisian side, the speakers were Najib Bougat, judicial officer, Nejib Ben Gatt, treasurer of the Council of the National Order of the judicial officers of Tunisia, Sami Banmour, director of the Training Center of the Tunisian judicial officers, and Mahmoud Zarrouki, judicial officer. The speakers of the UIHJ were Bernard Menut, Francoise Andrieux (France), National School of Procedure expert, Roger Dujardin and Mathieu Chardon.
The final report was entrusted to the good care of Nadhir Ben Ammou, professor at the Faculty of Law and political sciences of Tunis, who had taken part, one remembers, in the international congress of the UIHJ in Tunis in May 2003. In a brilliant intervention, where legal rigor and great wisdom coexisted, Professor Ben Ammou declined his report in two parts centered around the capacities and of the means. Regarding the acquired capacities, he indicated that the realization of the law passes through the judicial officer, essential element of the legal apparatus. He presented the mission of service of documents as “a center piece in the functions of the judicial officer”. Concerning the capacities to conquer, Mr. Ben Ammou noticed that the judicial officer is actually competing with the debt collecting agencies. Yet the relation between judicial officers and enterprises are in fact privileged ones, a “regulator of the economic exchanges, of the social and economic relations, a means of social peace”. On the means, the Tunisian professor recalled that the judicial officers need initial training. “Knowledge is power, but a power without knowledge is dangerous” he considers rightly. Thus ongoing training, followed by all judicial officers but also by their collaborators, aims at following the rise in regulations, specificity to all modern systems. Lastly, through a structured professional organization, the profession needs a controlling authority as well as competence on discipline and ethics. While quoting Portalis - the main author of the 1804 French Civil Code - (“one legislates only with a shaking hand”), Professor Ben Ammou concluded that it will undoubtedly be necessary to re-examine the statute of the judicial officer for him to still exist in the future.
In the evening, the participants convened to a sumptuous dinner offered by the National Order of the judicial officers of Tunisia, to the bewitching sound of an Eastern music orchestra.
