Weeks have become months, and to my annoyment, I'm still stuck in that awful job.
To be totally honest, I must admit that I've found some advantages in my activity. Even if I do have a boss and am accountable of all the work he gives me, I still can leave the office a bit sooner or choose to do something else.
Recently, I decided to go to an audience just to hear people plea and improve the way I talk or act when in court. Fate guided me to a criminal audience. A glance to the rôle sheet informed me that the afternoon would see many cases. I soon discovered that all these cases were actually linked with the past elections that had taken place during June 2010. The prosecutor's office sued every single person who had been called to cont the votes but hadn't come that day. The audience was the most boring, but I didn't dare to go back to the office saying that my smart afternoon had turned to a stupid hide and seek game. For every person, the prosecutor asked : "so, where have you been that day, what was so important you couldn't fulfill your citizen's duty?". Every time, with or without lawyer, the answers were really pitiful. The winner is beyond all doubts the lady who explained she was ready to come, but unfortunately fainted just before departure and woke up only at 5 pm, when it was obviously too late. If you set that laugh aside, the afternoon was just uninteresting and I had not a single idea of what a good plea was when I finally gave up and went back to work at 4 o'clock.
During Christmas time, I haven't been allowed to holidays or free time. I was still beginning at 8.30 am and finishing at 6 pm. But this couldn't bother me. The last time I had had a peaceful Christmas, far from examinations or stress, was 6 years ago. It tasted joyfully and exciting. I could prepare Christmas again during days before, pin little things and sugar canes on my very own tree and cook Christmas bakeries all week. Freedom is a gift, and I had forgot how good it was.
My lover, however, had to study during weeks ; this was a difficult moment. He saw me come back from work and smiling for having a free night for baking, decorating, shopping, while he had to say "I think I will study a bit more tonight". I was frustrated, because our time together was very tight. But still, it was one of my best Christmas ever.
The winter is still there. In December and January, we have had the most snowy weeks I ever heard of in this country. We usually have a bit of snow around the 15th of December, and everybody finds it fine. But this year, it was almost impossible to drive. My car has had many problems to fight the weather, and I had to ask my mum to bring me my moonboots. It wasn't very classy to arrive with two big white old-fashioned boots at the Courts of Justice, but my colleagues still envied me because my feet were dry.
We thought it was over when, in January, the snow smelt and finally let us move easily, receive our mail, drive safely, and so on. But these past three days, the weather played with our nerves. Some snow flakes were falling from time to time, as if hesitating to stay over there or really come down hard. My night hasn't been this good, because I knew I had to come to an audience of the Youth Tribunal. This law court has a very special way of organization. An huissier d'audience stays in the corridor, were all the lawyers and all the people (and especially all the children) are waiting their turn, and notes who is present and who is not. Everything depends on your time arrival : if the two lawyers check in really fast, you'll get number one. If you arrive early, but your adversary only comes at 10 o'clock, you have good chances to be stuck in the corridor forever. This sounds simple, but it is not. There are more rules that complicate all the thing. If you do have a lawyer, if you adversary does or if you both do, you'll get a number. If not, you'll get no number and you have to wait until every single lawyer has had his turn. Even if it's your turn, if a lawyer checks in, he has an absolute priority, because it's his job. No matter if you left yours, if your children are missing school or if you're losing your remuneration while waiting during hours : you are just a citizen. The system is totally unfair and frustrating. No wonder we are hated by everybody. We just are unbearable.
There is another rule. If you just want to ask the Judge to postpone the case, which arrives more than you can imagine, you get a special number with an "R", for "remise". This means you just need two minutes with the judge : "Sir, I would like to postpone the case because we are negociating a possible solution with our clients and would like to see if this doesn't work first". The judges love when you come with an agreement, because it's very relieving, when you're permanently inside conflicts, to see that people can still talk and accept to act their own solution. The judges have the power to implement these agreements, which become then as strongly mandatory as a real judgment. "When do you think we can meet again, Maître?" "Within the month would be perfect". Then everybody takes his calendar, negociating the day and hour, "Thank you, sir. Good audience" and everbody's out. That's in theory. In practice, as the R-numbers go first and before any other number, many lawyers are a bit cheating. So, if I arrive very early and get number 1, I know I'll have to wait for at least an hour, even if there's only three R's. Imagine a lawyer who arrives at 10, having three cases to deal with. One of them is an R, so even if we already have seen number 1, he gets R5 and passes before everybody. No problem. But his two other cases are numbers 12 and 13, and he knows he'll stay there like forever waiting his turn. So, once he's inside, he asks for a remise, he gets it, but instead of leaving to join the corridor and the waiting, he says : "Sir, I have two other cases. Shall we take them now?", and he goes before number 2, who arrived at 8.45 so he could get a good number. Sorry, number 2, you'll have to wait until 11.45, because some bastard decided he could come late and avoid the queue. It isn't right. The worst is that most of the time, you don't realize what's happening, because the lawyers stays inside, but only the people go in and out.
There is more. Logically, and fortunately, the people who came with young children have priority amongst the other people without lawyer. But actually, the judge has the complete right to choose who comes first. He can change the ordre whenever he wants, and he has no explanation to give. So my advice is not to look eagerly at the judge while he takes a coffee-break at 9.30 : he could decide to take your case as last.
Even as a lawyer, I sometimes have to wait very long before entering the Youth's Judge's Office. I remember a day, in December, when I had a very simple case there. I arrived at 8.30, hoping to get a very good number, which I got. I was R3, but only because another lawyer saw me arrive and ran so she could have a better number. Crazy, they are. My lawyer adversary arrived too, our clients were present with their 13-years-old daughter, the judge began his audience in time, the morning was perfect so far. When I came back at the office, it was 11.30 and I was angry. My colleague, the other lawyer, had disappeared during more than an hour, and our turn had been skipped many times. I finally found her, drinking coffee in the lawyer's cafeteria with a friend of her. I wasn't very pleased, but she told me she was coming after her coffee. I went back to the corridor to tell the clients our turn was next, without telling why we had been waiting so long. As I went out the corridor to walk a bit while waiting the negligent coffee-drinker, I saw her outside with her friend, lighting on a cigaret. I rushed outside the building, feeling my cheeks redening with anger. "Oh, it's you, she said. I was smoking a bit, you know, hard morning. Want one?" At this very moment, I thought I could slap her in the face with my file. I told her our turn was again skipped because she was absent and that our clients were missing their wors and school. "Well, I just wanted a cigarette". I choose to not mention the coffee and the hour during which she had just disappeared, but I couldn't believe she was such a jerk, and such a nice jerk, because she was very friendly and funny. Her disrespect for the people we defend every day let me speechless. How could the citizens trust us if some of us act this way? You can't blame people for actually liking this job, but seriously, sometimes it's hard to be on the same page as my colleagues.
So, today, I woke up tired because I knew I had to go to the Youth Tribunal, and I feared a bad morning. I left very earlier than usual to be sure I'd arrive at 8.30 and get a good R-number. The weather had tricked me. Yesterday, it had been raining slightly. I ignored it had been very, very cold during the night. The streets, the cars, everything was covered with a very thin touch of glistering ice. I was forced to walk on the road, because the pavements were slippy. I had to break the ice all on my car with my fingers totally frozen, having forgotten my gloves.
With all this, I could have a bad morning and come back at the office very late. But no. When I rushed, at 8.13, in the office to take the file and leave, I couldn't find it. I received a message that said "Don't worry, I took all files for today". My boss had decided to spare me... He was back at 10 o'clock.
