Itinerary of a committed magistrate

It was with a mischievous "Courage!" addressed to her successor, John Petry, that Martine Solovieff closed her last speech at the Justice Department's New Year's drink in mid-January. Indeed, the job of State Prosecutor is not the easiest or the most relaxing – but as Ms Solovieff repeated several times during her interview with the Journal, "I have no regrets".

The magistrate is hanging up her robe just a few months before reaching the age limit of 68, but without having slowed down the pace, in the image of a career that has led her to a prestigious position without being overly ambitious. A career in law when her path seemed mapped out elsewhere: the young Martine was dedicated to medicine and was therefore enrolled in Section C at the Lycée de jeunes filles at Limpertsberg. "When I was in the last year of secondary school, I really wondered whether I wanted to study medicine, not only because it's a course of study that lasts a certain length of time, but above all because I wondered about direct contact with human beings", recalls the magistrate. "At the time, a friend's father said to me 'if you don't know what to do, study law, it leads to everything'"