• Since the announcement last Thursday of Elisabeth Borne's recourse to Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows the adoption of a text without a vote, demonstrations have multiplied in France.
  • Thursday, Place de la Concorde in Paris, 292 people were arrested and placed in custody. Only nine were referred.
  • The Syndicat de la magistrature believes that "this misuse of police custody illustrates the excesses of policing, which diverts the judicial system to put it entirely at its service".

The anger of the street does not fade. Since the Prime Minister announced last Thursday the use of Article 49.3 to pass the pension reform, demonstrations have been organized every day, almost everywhere in France. On Saturday evening, in Paris, protesters gathered at Place de la Concorde, where gatherings were banned by order of the Prefecture of Police. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 400 checks took place and 12 people were arrested. The 13th arrondissement of the capital, in which 4,200 people deported, was also the scene of clashes with the police in the evening. In the Place d'Italie area, police made 110 arrests. In other cities, another 47 people were arrested.

It should be noted that it is not forbidden to participate in an undeclared demonstration. Since 1935, it has been mandatory to report a demonstration to the prefecture or town hall in advance. The organizers of an undeclared gathering face up to six months in prison and a fine of 7,000 euros. On the other hand, in a judgment of 8 June 2022, the Court of Cassation recalls that "neither Article R. 610-5 of the Criminal Code, nor any other legal or regulatory provision criminalizes the sole fact of participating in an undeclared demonstration". Only participation in a prohibited demonstration after declaration is punishable by a 4th class fine.

'Government response'

Last Thursday, a few hours after Elisabeth Borne's speech before the National Assembly, about 10,000 opponents of the reform met spontaneously at Place de la Concorde. 292 demonstrators were arrested and taken into custody that evening. Only nine were brought in, and all other police custody was lifted without charge. From there to think that the police are zealous?

During these demonstrations, the police can proceed "to administrative arrests, in order to verify the identity of a person for a maximum of 4 hours. It shows that there is a reaction from the public authorities," explains Jean-Christophe Couvy, national secretary of the union Unité SGP police FO. "But we can also arrest people because they have committed serious offenses, damage or violence, and in this case, we place them in custody after informing the public prosecutor of the facts committed," he continues.

At the end of police custody, proceedings may be dismissed for insufficiently serious offence or absence of offence. The suspect may also be brought before a delegate of the prosecutor. The magistrate may then decide to issue a reminder of the law or refer him to a court for immediate trial.



'Deter protesters with fear'

"The mass police custody that has been decided are for us a real misuse of the judicial system in the service of maintaining order, denounces the secretary general of the Union of magistrates, Nelly Bertrand, contacted by 20 Minutes. The violent police crackdown is intended to dissuade protesters through fear from voicing their opposition to the reform and use of 49.3. The authorities' goal is, she says, to "ensure that people in police custody are no longer able to protest for 24 or 48 hours."

Nelly Bertrand adds that if 283 arrests out of 292 were closed without follow-up, it is because "there was insufficient evidence that these people had committed an offence". Jean-Christophe Couvy, of the SGP Police FO Unit, acknowledges that these police custody are "the figure on which the administration and politicians communicate". "But behind it, we don't do anything about it," he regrets. This gives those who have been arrested a sense of impunity and they think behind them that they can continue. »

  • Society
  • Police
  • Pension reform 2023
  • Reform
  • Violence
  • Paris
  • Ile
  • Judicial Union
  • Custody