Paris - A new French tribunal makes its debut tomorrow when the Court of Justice of the Republic hears its first case, involving three former cabinet members accused of complicity in a scandal over HIV-tainted blood.
Although created in 1993, the court has never sat before as its sole role is to judge government ministers accused of wrongdoing in the conduct of their official duties. A former prime minister, Mr Laurent Fabius, and two former health ministers, Ms Georgina Dufoix and Mr Edmond Herve, are accused of manslaughter in connection with the state's management of its blood bank system in the mid-1980s.