Ferrand isn’t a judge, but the former head of the French National Assembly and one of Macron’s earliest supporters.
Like Ferrand, both the outgoing president of the Conseil Constitutionnel, Laurent Fabius, and his predecessor Jean-Louis Debré, had previously presided over the National Assembly. Fabius and Debré were both politically aligned with the presidents who appointed them as well. But Debré was appointed by former President Jacques Chirac when he was just weeks away from leaving office and thus didn’t stand to benefit from Debré’s new role. Fabius, meanwhile, had not historically been close to the president who appointed him, François Hollande.
Constitutional experts like Morel believe Ferrand’s ties to the president are much more worrying than those who had the job before him, and they have pointed to a legal principle according to which institutions, particularly courts, must not only be impartial but also appear impartial to the public.
Writing in Le Figaro, the Conseil’s former secretary-general, Jean-Éric Schoettl, said that its leader “must be beyond any suspicion of partisanship, favoritism, or personal ties.”
Macron’s political opponents have seized on the controversy. Member of the European Parliament Marion Maréchal, Le Pen’s niece and a National Rally ally, said in an interview on RTL Ferrand’s appointment was an attempt to hinder Le Pen’s capacity to lead reforms if she is elected president.
The Democratic and Republican group in the National Assembly — made up of communist lawmakers and representatives from France’s territories outside Europe — said it would reintroduce a bill to require all members of the Conseil Constitutionnel to have legal experience and skills and not have been in government or parliament in the decade preceding their appointment.