Dossiers noirs de la Police française
A citizen-jurist against police ‘blunders’.
Born in 1940, Denis Langlois, legal advisor to the League of Human Rights, was a jurist and observer of several dictatorships, including Greece under the Colonels.
He wrote Dossiers noirs de la police française in 1971.
Some weeks after its publication, Raymond Marcellin brought a suit for libel at a point when several print runs had already been sold.
The Minister of the Interior sought to invalidate this book, denouncing ‘the way in which French citizen-policemen are above the laws’.
The Minister cited 4 pages out of the 227 in the book.
Le Seuil, who received wide support, was condemned to pay fines at three hearings and acquitted at two others.
Denis Langlois continued his work as a citizen-jurist with his Guide du militant (1972), Les Dossiers noirs de la justice française (1974) and Les Dossiers noirs du suicide (1976).