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Maurice Patin, an early supporter of de Gaulle, agreed to take over the Directorate for Criminal Affairs and Pardons (DACG) in August 1944, in order to contribute to the reconstruction of the French justice System. He worked tirelessly over the next two years to get the justice system back on its feet, particularly criminal justice which had been widely abused under the Occupation. An all-round champion of Republican legalism, he applied his Gaullist credentials to the consolidation of central judicial power by virtue of his privileged position with General De Gaulle, who held the right to grand pardons.