Camille Gosson participated to The Debate, on the day Nicolas Sarkozy started executing his sentence, as the Court of First Instance found him guilty of criminal conspiracy and convicted him to 5 years of imprisonment, with immediate effect, despite his appeal and the principle of suspensive effect under French law.
She gave legal and technical insights on the exceptional measure that is provisional execution of a sentence pending an appeal, and the offense of criminal conspiracy, two criminal law tools that have been subject to legal debates for many years among the lawyers’ profession, precisely for their lack of precision and concrete criteria, and that are yet used in the majority of cases in France.
She also recalled the legal implications of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, and the standards to which it holds the executive, the legislative as well as the judiciary in France.