By Julien Bottler
Published on
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Before judging a couple for the sale of fake sanitary passes, it is another suspected forger that the Lille court heard, Friday, December 17, 2021. A man was indeed appearing to have usurped the title of lawyer and to have used a fake. The story of a thwarted ambition…
Denied by two bars
Caleb* was born in Democratic Republic of Congo. There, he graduated in law and practiced as a legal advisor. He says he enjoys “a certain notoriety” in his country of origin after the publication of articles.
His career led him to settle in Belgium, where he works as a legal secretary for an association. But Caleb wants above all to become a lawyer.
He therefore submits a request to integrate the French-speaking and German-speaking Belgian bar. Rejected because he is suspected of illegal practice of the profession of lawyer. Caleb then tries his luck with the Lille Bar in 2019. New refusal for the same reasons, he attempted an appeal, again rejected.
Writings where he presents himself as a lawyer
It is therefore finally as a defendant and not as a lawyer that he is summoned before the court of Lille. The Lille bar took legal action because, according to him, Caleb was already presenting himself as a lawyer.
The president of the court presents couriersaddressed to courts, where Caleb was called “Master”, other writings to lawyers whom he called “dear colleague” or “dear colleague”, his email address also mentions the quality of lawyer, he also presents himself as such to the Roubaix company OVH.
Caleb defends himself not without passion: “These documents, it was just to sell me, I wanted to show that I mastered French law and that I had editorial skills! “He also argues that the Lille Bar itself called him “Master” in a writing. At home, we feel great frustration and the feeling that the Lille bar is trying to put a spoke in the wheels of his ambition.
Only, another document gets him to appear in court, a writing allegedly signed by the chairman of the French-speaking and German-speaking bar. In this letter, the president of the bar returns to a precedent in writing where he informed the Lille bar of suspicions of illegal practice of the legal profession.
This letter rehabilitating him was actually written by Caleb himself. The 48-year-old man struggles to answer the president’s questions on this subject, he evades, but ends up recognizing all the same, half-words.
“This dress drives you crazy”
“The whole world is dishonest except him, even when he produces a fake, even when he lies to people,” said the lawyer from the Lille bar. “Today we have someone who is dangerous for the people who turn to him. There are deeds, he filed motions. He considers himself legitimate against all odds. and against all odds. The bar is asking for 25,000 euros in compensation for the damage.
The representative of the Belgian chairman, after recalling the complexity bordering on the “absurd” of the constitutional law of our neighbors, castigates the mounting of the false letter, and only asks for a symbolic euro in compensation.
Caleb’s defense does not deny his client’s somewhat all-consuming ambition. “This lawyer’s robe, she drives you crazy because she carries dreams, it’s a symbol of professional accomplishment,” he begins. “He is someone who has worked, who has studied, faced with the cumbersome procedure to become a lawyer. He misinterprets a letter where he is called ‘Master’ and then he mentions the term lawyer for a short period of time. To say that Mr. is dangerous is violent! The defense also wonders about the territorial jurisdiction of the Lille court to try this case.
The prosecution, for its part, calls for “awareness” of the defendant. “He is not a lawyer, he never was. Perhaps he will be, but in the meantime he must realize that he cannot use this title in correspondence and even less produce false documents. The public prosecutor requests a “symbolic sentence” of four months suspended sentence.
The court is due to render its decision on January 21, 2022**.
*Name has been changed
** Pending deliberation, the defendant remains presumed innocent.
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