A French lawyer representing a grandmother seeking visitation rights to see her granddaughter has been fined for arguing that the trial judge, Albert Levy, should be disqualified for lack of impartiality. From the (translated) motion to disqualify:
The presiding judge whose disqualification is sought has the surname "Levy". The "Papa" of the person in this case Miss X (...) had been prosecuted for the offence of taking away a minor under 18, is named Moses (Moïse). The first page of reference for the word "Lévy" on Wikipedia says that the word is, “according to tradition, the founder of the Jewish religion, Judaism, which is sometimes called, for this reason, Mosaic, that is to say, the religion of Moses. The materiality of these findings is incontestable.
The court denied Dubrel's motion and assessed him the maximum fine of 750 Euros. The Lyon Bar is also seeking further disciplinary action.
HT: Religion Clause
