Skip to content

French law is just so weird

Judge Sophie Clément said Mr Richard had “committed grave acts by favouring the interests of Mr Tapie at the expense of those of the state”.

Mr Tapie was handed compensation and damages after accusing the state of defrauding him when he sold a stake in Adidas, the sportswear group, to a bank backed by the French government in 2008.

Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister at the time who is now president of the European Central Bank, had pushed through the settlement.

It was later overturned after prosecutors said the process was tipped in Mr Tapie’s favour as a reward for backing Nicola Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election.

Mr Richard’s case relates to his time as Ms Lagarde’s chief of staff when she was finance minister. She was convicted of negligence in 2016 in relation to the scandal, but faced no fine or sentence due to her “international reputation”.

Political bird gets off because she’s political bird. Aren’t you glad we left political union with that gang of thieves?

11 thoughts on “French law is just so weird”

  1. Lagarde’s entire career is simply astonishing. She makes Cressida Dick seem like a novice at the art of rising through the ranks on a record of colossal failure

  2. And according to the DT, the board thanked him for “…establishing an appeased working environment after the social crisis…”.

    Does anyone have the slightest idea what this means? Or do we blame Google Translate?

  3. I haven’t seen the original French, but by trnaslatign back and forth a couple of times my guess is it means “…establishing calm in the working environment after the social crisis…”.

  4. Of course not.

    This is actually one of the better arguments for staying in, and is closely related to the one explained in episode 5 (I think it was) of Yes Minister! Why on earth would we want less influence over what the French get up to?

  5. @Diogenes
    Lagarde’s entire career is simply astonishing. She makes Cressida Dick seem like a novice at the art of rising through the ranks on a record of colossal failure

    Both are mere amateurs compared to our resident kookaburra, Kamala Harris. Who is now an unsteady heartbeat away from the presidency. All despite alienating three-quarters of the population.

    It being Thanksgiving Day here in the US, I would like to thank our host Tim Worstall for providing a forum for us to bloviate, vent, state the obvious, and provide pearls of wisdom. Thank you!

  6. I love the idea that it’s “Mr Carpit” who’s the beneficiary of this largesse.

    Best Thanksgiving wishes to US readers 🙂

  7. BiS – I know you think you’re making a point (BRANDON) but isn’t it just the same as Trump Derangement Syndrome? But for Biden? We could go all the way back to Clinton (W) and Bush (GWH) if you want. And Nixon, and yadda yadda, know what I mean? Essentially pointless – I say X which is perfectly reasonable, you say X because you’re a monster. See what I mean?

  8. BiS – I know you think you’re making a point (BRANDON) but isn’t it just the same as Trump Derangement Syndrome? But for Biden? We could go all the way back to Clinton (W) and Bush (GWH) if you want. And Nixon, and yadda yadda, know what I mean? Essentially pointless – I say X which is perfectly reasonable, you say X because you’re a monster. See what I mean?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *