Secrecy Does Not Mean Concealment

In today's time when some politicians are tempted to "use the coffin of a 12-year-old girl as a stepping stone" to promote their ideas and a deadly hatred, when others buy the domain name corresponding to the first name of the little victim of a heinous murder, when investigations for breach of the secrecy of pre-trial investigations are launched following the interview of a police officer giving details on this horrible news item, it appears essential to recall the importance – beyond the respect normally due to the victim – of a core value of our rule of law: The secrecy of pre-trial investigations and inquiries.

The secrecy of pre-trial investigations and inquiries is a very old principle under French law. As early as 1498, the Blois Ordinance specified that the trial should be held "as diligently and secretly as possible". The Villers-Cotterêts Ordinance, in 1539, reaffirmed the importance of secrecy in judicial matters and stipulated that witnesses should be