• A wedding procession committed multiple offenses on Saturday near Strasbourg.

    Faced with this situation, the mayor of Illkirch-Graffenstaden then decided to cancel the ceremony.

  • But did he have the right?

    20 Minutes put the question to a lawyer specializing in administrative law.

  • In France, several cities have already set up charters in order to avoid overflows.

    If they were to happen anyway, the wedding would be postponed.

Where is the tolerable limit for a wedding procession?

The mayor of Illkirch-Graffenstaden, near Strasbourg, decided on Saturday.

Faced with the numerous violations of the Highway Code noted and especially the blank shots carried out here and there, he had decided to cancel the ceremony.

"I couldn't let that go.

I believe that when you do not respect the rules of the Republic, you cannot benefit from its institutions”, Thibaud Philipps had justified on Sunday.

But was the chosen one within his rights in depriving the couple of union?

"It's probably a misuse of procedure.

There were certainly other measures to take without attacking marriage, which is a fundamental freedom, ”answers

20 Minutes

Louis le Foyer de Costil, lawyer specializing in administrative law.

In the texts, a civil registrar cannot refuse this same ceremony.

He is "required to celebrate a marriage as soon as the conditions provided for by the Civil Code, in particular with regard to age and the free consent of the spouses, are satisfied", is it mentioned in article L. 2212- 2 of the General Code of Local Authorities (CGCT).

This was indeed the case on Saturday since the couple's file had been validated and the long-awaited meeting fixed.

“The couple could attack him”

Nuances must nevertheless be made and provide arguments for the decision taken.

It is there on the side of article 212-2 of the same CGCT that we must look.

Either: “The mayor may take the necessary measures to preserve good order, public safety, security and sanitation as well as public tranquility during the marriage ceremony.

The mayor may only be required to temporarily suspend a ceremony in the event of a proven and imminent risk of disturbing public order.

»

"As a guarantor of public order, can consider that there is a risk of prosecution to public order to celebrate the marriage and therefore take measures to avoid them, specifies the founder of the firm based in Paris (16th borough).

But be careful, we prevent a problem, we don't fix it.

If it is to sanction past excesses, his choice does not seem justified to me.

[…] The couple could attack him before the administrative court to contest the decision.

Or judicially, if he judges that there is assault (illegal action of the administration) on the part of the mayor.

»



The story is not there and the ceremony should simply be shifted.

As is already done in other cities.

In Nice, for example, several weddings have already been postponed following prior incidents.

Reason given: disturbance of public order and… non-compliance with a charter put in place since 2012. In it, the city of the Côte d'Azur urges the future bride and groom "not to disturb the tranquility, tranquility and solemnity of the moment”.

These same charters must also be ratified in Saint-Gratien (Val-d'Oise), Orléans (Loiret) or Bron (Rhône).

In the latter city, the document had been drawn up following serious incidents.

In September 2020, the mayor refused several dozen guests at the ceremony, almost blindly.

“We also set up preparatory meetings with the future spouses and since then, it's been day and night.

They know it: if there are overflows, it will be postponed, ”we explain to the gleaming town hall.

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