An expected review. This Tuesday, the highest administrative court is examining the appeal filed by the association for the Defense of Conditional Liberties, requesting the suspension of the decree that authorizes the police to use drones equipped with cameras, for example during demonstrations, and to process the data from the images captured.
What does the text say?
Decree number 2023-283 was published in the Official Journal on Thursday, April 20, 2023, more than a year after the vote on the law on criminal responsibility and internal security. The text authorizes the use of drones equipped with cameras by police, military, gendarmes or customs officers.
Their use is permitted, among other things, for "the prevention of attacks on the security of people and property in particularly exposed places", "the security of gatherings", "the regulation of transport flows" or "the prevention of acts of terrorism". Border surveillance "to combat irregular crossing" is also mentioned in the decree.
Have drones ever been used?
A few days after the decree was issued, several prefectures issued orders to film the May 1 rallies, in an effort to prevent any disturbance of public order. Several injunctions-liberties had been filed by the Adelico, which denounced "illegal" decrees. Challenges rejected by several administrative courts, including those of Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux. During the demonstrations, the drones were clearly visible above the processions.
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In the columns of Le Parisien, the spokesman for the prefecture of Paris Loubna Atta praised the benefits of the use of drones during the rallies of May 1st. "The drone made it possible to detect people on the roof of the building burning Place de la Nation," he used as an example.
What do the opponents of this decree reproach?
According to the appeal of the association for the Defence of Constitutional Freedoms, consulted by AFP, the decree "carries by its very existence considerable infringements of the right to respect for private life, the right to the protection of personal data, the freedom to come and go and the freedom of demonstration".
Invited to the microphone of France Info on Tuesday, the lawyer at the Paris Bar Jean-Baptiste Soufron, a member of the Adelico, accuses the police of sending "drones everywhere for anything". For him, "the use of drones must be exceptional. What is indicated by the European texts is that the use of drones must be authorized when it is an absolute necessity."
The use of drones by the police challenged before the Council of State: "We had criteria that seemed clear but the police decided to exempt themselves," denounces Me Jean Baptiste Soufron, who filed the appeal. pic.twitter.com/6Hssz2jX4q
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) May 16, 2023
What do they expect from the examination in the Council of State?
The association at the origin of the appeal does not ask for a total ban on drones, but would like their use by the police "to be framed by the texts in the most meticulous way possible". Still at the microphone of France Info, Me Jean-Baptiste Soufron asked that the perimeters of action of drones be limited, in order to avoid that private areas are filmed.
"Are the French ready to accept that a police investigator can look out the window and pull your curtains aside to see what is happening in your home? I don't think so," the lawyer asks. The examination of the appeal by the Council of State begins at 15 p.m. At the end of the hearing, the judge will give the upcoming schedule, if the investigation is not closed. But no decision will be taken this Tuesday, assures the Parisian the Council of State.
