(Cayenne) French politician. She has a post-graduate degree in Economics, a degree in Sociology, and a diploma in Afro-American Ethnology, as well as a post-graduate degree in Agriculture and Food. In 1978 she became a lecturer in Economics. From 1990 she was a member of the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Cooperation in French Guiana. She was a Member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999. She held the position of Minister of Justice in the French Government from May 2012 to January 2016, a period when she worked to introduce civil rights into the legal system. She has published a number of books, including: L'esclavage raconté à ma fille (2002), Mes météores: combats politiques au long cours (2012), Paroles de liberté (2014) and Murmures à la jeunesse (2016).