Global security law proposal

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Proposition de loi relative à la sécurité globale
National Assembly
Territorial extentFrance
Enacted byNational Assembly
Enacted bySenate
Legislative history
Bill published onOctober 20, 2020
Introduced byJean Castex
First readingNovember 4, 2020 – November 24, 2020
Second readingApril 15, 2021
First readingMarch 3, 2020 – March 18, 2021
Status: Pending

The global security law proposal is a proposed French law. It is intended to

  • grant municipal police departments more autonomy,[1]
  • permit police live-feed access to body cameras as worn by policemen, as well as footage from drones,[2][3] and
  • protect members of the police force[4] (and their relatives) from off-duty attacks by allowing them to bear their service weapon even off-duty,[3] as well as by restricting naming and photography of policemen (and their relatives).

The last point is primarily regulated in the law’s Article 24 giving the bill the nickname Article 24 in public discourse.

Summary[]

The bill is structured by 7 titles. The law’s articles are enumerated from 1 to 32, some of which are further subdivided by letters. The bill mostly amends other laws, such as the Code pénal. Many provisions are made “on an experimental basis” implying that not all them are rolled out nationwide in order to keep a control group for comparison.

Municipal police[]

Articles 1 to 6 outline and grant municipal police full judicial policing authority if the municipality employs more than 15 policemen. This is supposed to speed up processes. Previously, all crimes had to be reported to the national police first.[5]

Private security companies[]

Articles 7 to 19d concern private security companies. Private security guards have to fulfill more qualifications in order to do their job.[5]

Video surveillance[]

The articles 20 through 21 provide a common set of provisions for remote access to body cameras, police cameras and street CCTV monitoring systems.[6] Articles 22 through 22b authorize police to deploy police drones for monitoring.[7][6]

The use of mobile cameras was allowed since 2016, but previously access to recordings required a warranted reason, such as investigating an incident.[8] Deployment of UAVs did not have any legal basis at all,[5] but nevertheless were recently used more often.[8]

Law enforcement[]

Article 24 makes it illegal to photograph law enforcement officers with the intention of “threatening [their] physical or psychological integrity.”[9][10]

As another layer of security, according to Article 25 policemen can be allowed to carry their service weapon even off-duty.[11] This has been common practice since 2016,[11] but did not have a dedicated legal basis.

Transportation[]

Articles 28 through 29b introduce more video surveillance options in public transit and on roads.

Miscellaneous[]

Articles 30 to 30c contain miscellaneous.

Overseas adjustments[]

Special provisions were made for France’s overseas territories in articles 31 to 31d.

Response[]

The law is backed by the governing party. Law enforcement officers were increasingly facing harassment, in particular via online social media.[12][5] The police unions UNSA[13] and Alliance Police nationale[14] support the bill. The latter, the APN, claims the safety of law enforcement members was closely related to France’s security and demands even more extensive measures.[14]

However, since its proposal the law has been met with criticism and protests by journalist[15] and civil rights organizations. In order to coordinate efforts, on November 8, 2020, many organizations united in the collective Stop Loi Sécurité Globale.[16] Amnesty International,[9] CNCDH,[17] Quadrature du net,[8] and the UNHCR[15][10] see civil liberties under attack.[6] Public outcry has been mainly over increased surveillance (Articles 21 and 22) and the potential criminalization of journalists reporting on police actions[18] and by-standers who simply choose to film police without any malicious intent.[10][19] Fewer documentation would thus decrease police accountability.[20][15][10][7][19] Although not mentioned in the bill,[5] the Federation of Labor Unions cgt,[21] Amnesty International,[9] and LQDN,[8] among others, criticize that “processing” of imagery could entail facial recognition, thus putting citizens under general suspicion.

Progress[]

The law was drawn up by the members of the National Assembly Alice Thourot (LREM, Drôme) and Jean-Michel Fauvergue (LREM, Seine-et-Marne), a former commander of a RAID police unit.[1]

On October 20, 2020, examination of the text began in an accelerated procedure which requires only one lecture by the parliament and subsequent approval by the senate. The national consultative commission on human rights of France sees the repeated use of accelerated procedure as a decline of democratic debate.[22]

During the parliament’s session on November 24, 2020, the proposal was adopted with a support of 388 yeas, versus 104 nays, and 66 in abstention.[citation needed] Most members of the ruling party LREM («En Marche!»)[23] voted in support for the bill, whilst most votes against were cast by parties belonging to the left spectrum; 10 votes against also came from LREM members.[4]

Following mass protests,[24][4] the most controversial Article 24 was reworded[20] by the Law Commission of the French Senate.[25] Initially any distribution of photographs was penalized. The new wording rather focuses on “causing the identification” of subjects.[25]

France’s upper house, The Senate, unanimously approved the amended bill on March 18, 2021,[3] the Day of Political Prisoners. On April 15, 2021, the National Assembly confirmed the changed version with 75 yeas and 33 nays.[26]

The law has to be promulgated within 15 days after its final adoption. However, the deadline is suspend if the law is referred to the Constitutional Council. Opposing organizations and local governments have already announced to call the Constitutional Council.[16]

See also[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Maurer, Pierre (November 10, 2020). ""Sécurité globale" : la proposition de loi LaREM franchit l'étape de la commission des lois" [“Global security”: the LaREM bill passes the law commission]. La Chaîne parlementaire – Assemblée Nationale (in French). Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Rees, Marc (October 15, 2020). "Images des policiers, surveillance par drone : la proposition de loi sur la Sécurité globale" [Photos of policemen, surveillance by drones: the proposed bill on global security]. Next INpact (in French). Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Desai, Shweta (March 21, 2021). "Protests in France against police impunity". Paris: Anadolu Agency. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Louis, Lisa (November 30, 2020). "France's Macron under fire for political lurch to the right". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "PPL Sécurité globale : mieux protéger les Français et ceux qui les protègent !". En Marche ! (in French). November 19, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Pietrandrea, Paola (November 23, 2020). "France's 'global security' bill". openDemocracy. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Massaro, Chris (December 4, 2020). "France struggles with systemic racism and new security law as protests rock country". Fox News. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Guinness (November 30, 2020). "Global Security Law: Routine Surveillance of Demonstrations". La Quadrature du Net. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c "France: New security law risks dystopian surveillance state". Amnesty International. March 3, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Beswick, Emma (November 28, 2020). "Why is France's new national security bill controversial?". euronews. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Tiwari, Vishal (March 21, 2021). "France Passes Article 25 Of Security Law Allowing Off-duty Officers To Carry Weapons". Republic World. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  12. ^ McCurdy, Christen (November 28, 2020). "Thousands protest French law restricting rights to film, photograph police". UPI. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  13. ^ "Dispositions relatives aux forces de sécurité intérieure" (PDF) (in French). UNSA. November 17, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b "Projet de loi sur la securite globale" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). Paris: Alliance Police Nationale. November 9, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c "France: Thousands protest against bill to curb filming of police". Deutsche Welle. November 21, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "Stop Loi Sécurité Globale" (in French). Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  17. ^ "Avis sur la proposition de loi relative à la sécurité globale" [Opinion on the proposed Global Security Bill] (in French). Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme. November 26, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "RSF urges French Senate to safeguard press freedom in "global security" and "republican principles" bills". Reporters without Borders. February 17, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Bell, Melissa (November 25, 2020). "French lawmakers pass controversial bill that restricts the publication of images of police". Paris: Cable News Network. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b "French security bill: 'Illegal tactics' used against protesters". Al Jazeera. February 8, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  21. ^ "Un projet de loi sécurité qui n'est pas au service de la population". cgt (Press release) (in French). November 17, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  22. ^ "La CNCDH s'alarme du contournement des processus démocratiques" [CNCDH alarmed by bypassing of democratic procedures] (in French). Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme. November 13, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  23. ^ "France considers ban on police images, alarming rights defenders". Paris. Associated Press. November 17, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2021 – via Fr24news.
  24. ^ Bairin, Pierre; Fournier, Gaelle (November 30, 2020). "France's ruling party promises change in controversial proposed security law". Cable News Network. Paris. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b Ahmady, Mostafa (March 26, 2021). "France's global security bill and human rights". Ahram Online. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  26. ^ "French MPs approve controversial security bill restricting police images". Associated Press. April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021 – via The Independent.

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