Mr. Hollande appointed Jean-Jacques Urvoas, a French member of parliament, to replace Ms. Taubira.
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France’s outspoken justice minister, Christiane Taubira, resigned on Wednesday (January 27), just as parliament prepared to examine a constitutional reform plan she openly criticized.
Taubira, a prominent figure in the governing Socialists of President Francois Hollande, has been at odds with some within her party and right-wing Republicans over issues of law and order.
Hollande and Taubira “agreed on the need to terminate her functions”, the statement said.
She confirmed her resignation in a tweet, saying that resisting sometimes meant leaving to stand by your beliefs.
Taubira’s resignation came ahead of a parliamentary debate slated later on Wednesday over a constitutional reform that would allow people convicted of terrorism to be stripped of their French citizenship under certain circumstances, Xinhua reported.
Hundreds of French-born jihadists have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside the so-called “Islamic State” – some later returning to France.
Depriving convicted terrorists of their French nationality was seen as a powerful symbolic move against the group and its supporters, but some, including French Guiana-born Taubira, expressed concerns about the legislation.
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President Hollande also praised her part in pushing through same-sex marriage laws.
