Christiane Taubira

Christiane Taubira or Christiane Taubira-Delannon ( ; born 2 February 1952, Cayenne, French Guiana) is a French politician who on 15 May 2012, was appointed Minister of Justice of France in the new Ayrault government under President François Hollande.

She studied at Pantheon-Assas University.

Having served as president of her party Walwari, Taubira from 1993 served as a deputy at the French National Assembly, and was re-elected in 1997. Non-affiliated in 1993, she then voted for the investiture of the conservative Edouard Balladur cabinet of ministers in 1993. In 1994, she became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), being the fourth on the Énergie Radicale list led by Bernard Tapie. In June 1997, she then joined the Socialist Party (PS), and then-Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (PS) commissioned her for a report on gold search in Guiana.

Christiane Taubira was the driving force behind a 21 May 2001 law that recognises the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity. In 2002, she was a Left Radical Party (PRG) candidate for the presidency, although she did not belong to the party. She gained 2.32% of the votes. After 2002, she became vice-president of the Left Radical Party. She was elected again as deputy on 16 June 2002, and joined the socialist group in the Assembly.

• Member of European parliament: 1994-1999. Elected in 1994.

• Member of the National Assembly of France for French Guiana (1st constituency): 1993-2012. Elected in 1993, reelected in 1997, 2002, 2007.

• Regional councillor of French Guiana: Since 2010.

Her book ("Slavery explained to my daughter") has been criticized by editorialist Eric Zemmour for accusing only the white people of colonization.

Nominated Minister of Justice in the Jean-Marc Ayrault government following the victory of François Hollande at the 2012 Presidential election, she was supposed to work with Junior Minister Delphine Batho. However, their relationship quickly deteriorated and they never were able to share responsibilities. After the June 2012 Legislative elections, Delphine Batho was nominated Minister of Ecology to replace Nicole Bricq, leaving Christiane Taubira in charge of the Ministry. It is rumoured that, learning Batho's nomination to Ecology, she declared "Good riddance!"