The front pages of the French papers are largely focusing on two stories today – la rentrée and the reform of France’s judiciary.

Le Figaro focuses on a debate in France about a return to traditional teaching methods. After 1968 there was an increasing drive to make the French education system more focused on helping the student to learn about himself - to learn how to learn. Traditionalists say the quality of the French education system has suffered as a result. School should be about instilling knowledge, forming values, repetition, memorising texts, formulae etc. That debate is resurging now that students return to schools today.

The front page of Libération deals with the reform of the French judiciary. “Judges under control,” reads the main headline. The position of ‘investigative judge’ is more than likely going to be abolished – a report came out yesterday advising this. Libération says this could put weaken the independence of the judiciary. Investigative judges are in large part responsible for investigating political corruption.

There is a major scoop on the front page of the Canard Enchaîné - a satirical weekly paper out every Wednesday. “The Canard has the list of the 2 Swiss citizens who hold bank accounts in France!” However the paper refuses to reveal their names because they’re suffering from ‘mental conditions’. This is playing with news that the French Finance Ministry has a list of 3,000 French citizens are evading tax by holding Swiss bank accounts.

Returning to Libération, Ségolène Royal might be a little red-faced this morning upon reading this article. At last weekend’s Socialist Party summer conference, she claimed the United Nations Development Program or UNPD had asked her to be the global representative for renewable energy cooperation on a regional level. She said that in this capacity she will represent the regions of the world in preparing the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen this September. But the Director of the UNDP has denied this.

 
La Voix du Nord has the story of 100,000 euros found in a bin in Lille. Apparently an elderly couple had been saving up for their place in a nursing home. When they moved out of their house, family members threw out old furniture and with it, a biscuit tin with all the cash. The couple had luckily included an envelope with their name and address in the biscuit tin, allowing the honest man who discovered it to return the contents to the owners.