Georges KIEJMAN > Kiejman & Marembert > Paris, France > Profil de l'avocat

Georges KIEJMAN

Département

General Criminal Law / International Criminal Law / Civil Law

Fonction

Founding Partner

Carrière professionnelle

A renowned attorney esteemed by his peers, Georges Kiejman has been active in both CRIMINAL and CIVIL law.

IN CRIMINAL LAW

He has been the defense attorney in many high-profile criminal cases.  He was successful in having Pierre GOLDMAN’s conviction in a double murder overturned.  He also defended Alain CAILLOL in the kidnapping of Baron EMPAIN. 

He represented the United States when it was a civil plaintiff in a case against George Ibrahim ABDALLAH who had been behind numerous terrorist attacks and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He represented the family of Malik OUSSEKINE, a young student who was killed during a demonstration. He also represented the family of Ghislaine MARCHAL (de RENTY), Omar RADDAD’s victim, before the Court of Revision. He was the attorney for the family of Marie TRINTIGNANT, who was killed in Vilnius by Bertrand CANTAT.

Recently, he represented Liliane BETTENCOURT, and was one of President Jacques CHIRAC’s lawyers.

He has been involved in numerous cases relating to the press, defending either publications or personalities. 

He has been instrumental in defining case law with regard to the press and the protection of personality rights. He was the lawyer of Lucie and Raymond AUBRAC, and of François MITTERRAND’s heirs against Dr. GUBLER.  He is as ardent a defender of freedom of the press, as he is of private citizens who have suffered from the abuse of this freedom.

A passionate defender of human rights, he has represented individuals threatened with extradition and has actively fought for the release of General OUFKIR’s children. 

He served on several reform committees, including the Committee on Criminal Law, the Committee on the Status of Judges, and the Press Justice Committee.

IN CIVIL LAW

He has defended numerous film directors, producers, writers, publishers, painters (Jean Dubuffet during the “Salon d’été” trial) or their heirs, and fashion designers.

He has been the advisor for all the major writers’ associations.

Yet he has also been the attorney for several major corporations and audiovisual companies. 

Equally attached to the defense of artistic creation, he defended RIVETTE’s “La Religieuse,” GODARD’s “Je Vous Salue Marie,” and COSTA GAVRAS’s “Amen.”

He was a member of the Supervisory Board of the newspaper “Le Monde” from 1985 to 1990 as the attorney in charge of representing its “Société des Lecteurs” (reader-shareholders). He has been on the board of the SAINT-SIMON Foundation, the Danièle MITTERRAND, FRANCE-LIBERTES Foundation, and the Pierre MENDES-FRANCE Institute since it was founded.

In 1979 he was appointed Head of the Committee for Advance Payments on Film Royalties, thus straddling the worlds of both cinema and publishing. In that capacity, he worked in collaboration with Florence MALRAUX, Milan KUNDERA, Costa GAVRAS, and played a role in maintaining the “Selective Endowment for French Cinema” (“Aide Sélective au Cinéma”) in existence.

He is a frequent presence on both television and radio. He produced three documentaries, all broadcast on French TV’ Channel 5, on the Kravchenko trial, the Pétain trial, and the Caillaux trial.

Furthermore, he has had a POLITICAL CAREER, and worked with Pierre Mendes France for twenty years.  His governmental positions include:

o    Deputy Minister of Justice in Michel ROCARD’s government from October 1990 to May 1991; he was in charge of reforms, and, in this capacity, supported several bills in the French Parliament ;

o   Deputy Minister of Communication in Edith CRESSON’s government from May 1991 to April 1992; he initiated a project for a “channel that promotes knowledge and excites curiosity”; that channel is known today as “Arte”;     

o     Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Pierre BEREGOVOY’s government from April 1992 to March 1993; his main focus during that time was France’s relationship with Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. He headed the French Delegation on several occasions in bilateral meetings as well as in meetings between various regional organizations such as ASEAN and the European Community.

Due to his professional background as well as his personal interests, he always emphasized France’s concerns with human rights during those meetings. Indeed, he was specifically in charge of these issues at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons was placed under his direct supervision.

Langues

French - English

Affiliations

2nd Secretary of the Conference of Paris Bar Attorneys / Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor

Formation académique

Advanced Degree in Public Law