The Constitutional Council censures the law on "security measures", a "snub" according to the opposition

It is a new slap that the Sages inflicted on the majority. Friday, August 7, the Constitutional Council censored the essence of a bill supported by the executive and the deputies La République en Marche (LREM) which was to allow the judicial authority to impose "security measures" persons sentenced to at least five years in prison for offenses linked to acts of terrorism. If it thinks possible to impose constraints on terrorist detainees leaving prison, the Constitutional Council considers on the other hand that these provisions "infringe" several fundamental freedoms. In its decision, the court thus judges that this law "makes it possible to impose various obligations or prohibitions (...) which infringe the freedom to come and go, the right to respect for private life and the right to lead a normal family life ".

"This is a snub for Yaël Braun-Pivet on the initiative of the law, for the majority but also for Éric Dupond-Moretti, new Minister of Justice who supported the law before the Senate. Even if he arrived along the way, he could have convinced his majority to abandon it, "Jean-Philippe Derosier, constitutional expert and professor of public law at the University of Lille, told France 24.

🔴 @Conseil_constit inflicts a serious setback on the #Gouvernement and the majority 👉 Censorship of almost the entire @YaelBRAUNPIVET law on security measures for perpetrators of terrorist offenses, on referral to @senateursPS https: //t.co/ljCvD50sUo

"A sentence after a sentence"

Many observers believed that the text went against the convictions of the former lawyer Dupond-Moretti, but faced with parliamentarians, the person concerned, who had become a minister, had defended "a solution of balance" and had assured that he had not been taken "suddenly from a blinding freedom-killing madness".

For its part, the LREM majority defended a text which should protect the French against the "terrorist risk", while around 150 inmates sentenced to at least five years in prison for offenses linked to acts of terrorism must be released from prison. by the end of 2023. But several lawyers and jurists feared the creation of "a sentence after sentence", calling into question the principles of the rule of law.

Adopted at the end of July, this bill was to impose on "particularly dangerous" detainees a series of measures, ranging from a ban on appearing in certain places or meeting certain people, to wearing an electronic bracelet, through the obligation to report regularly to the police or to establish residence in a specific location.

Decision n ° 2020-805 DC of August 7, 2020, [Law establishing security measures against perpetrators of terrorist offenses at the end of their sentence] Partial non-compliance https://t.co/8FXmPyA4mG pic .twitter.com / Dzr7x2fPIR

Reintegration in question

Without these security measures, is the security of the French in question? "The French are entitled to expect guaranteed security, but not at any cost, believes Jean-Philippe Derosier. Terrorists should not be benched for the rest of their lives. But these measures do not take into account a possible reintegration, comments the one who participated in the drafting of the text of referral tabled by the Socialist Party.The Constitutional Council only sanctioned the disproportionate nature of hazardous measures taken for political purposes to seduce a certain electorate. "

Some consolations all the same for the majority. The Council censored all the articles of the bill, except one: this one concerns the socio-judicial follow-up of ex-detainees for terrorism, once released from prison. In addition, the Constitutional Council has not closed the door to the establishment of security measures, other than those voted by parliamentarians.

The majority will review their copy

Moreover, the majority does not intend to stop there. Taking into account the observations of the Sages, the majority announced on Friday its willingness to review its copy. Starting with the co-author of the bill, Yaël Braun-Pivet (LREM). "For the Constitutional Council, these are indeed security measures, not a 'sentence after sentence'", commented on Twitter the deputy and chair of the law committee at the National Assembly. "The way to strengthen the monitoring of terrorists leaving prison has been mapped out. My determination to act to protect the French in the face of this threat remains intact."

#PPLTerro: for the @Conseil_constit, these are indeed security measures, not a “sentence after sentence”. The way to strengthen the monitoring of #terrorists leaving prison has been mapped out. My determination to act to protect the French in the face of this threat remains intact ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/NBsWkQ0w50

The LREM group also remains "convinced of the legitimacy of (the) object" of this text and "will quickly examine the means to achieve it in compliance with the Constitution", said on Twitter Gilles Le Gendre, the chief leader of the "marchers" in the Assembly.

An unnecessary stubbornness according to Jean-Philippe Derosier, who believes that "the legal arsenal we have already allows for sufficient security. Let's start by applying the recent laws of 2015, 2016 and 2017 on this subject and give them time to be deployed. The real problem is not in the law, but in its application and the human and material resources available. "

 With this decision of the Constitutional Council, the majority and the government endure their second disavowal in a few weeks, after the censorship by the Sages of the Heart of the Avia law against online hatred.

With AFP

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