PARIS - The trial of former President Jacques Chirac over misuse of public funds was postponed by a French court on Tuesday while it sought advice on a constitutional challenge that will hold the case up for months.
The 78-year-old who ruled France for 12 years is accused of channelling public money into phantom jobs for political cronies while he was mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995.
The court set a date of June 20 for the trial to reopen if it gets clearance from the country's Constitutional Council, which has been asked say whether some of the alleged offences are too old to go to court.
