2023-08-07 15:57:06
The interim judge of the administrative court of Poitiers partially suspended the “anti-marginal” decree taken on July 11 by the mayor of Angoulême, Xavier Bonnefont (various right). In its judgment delivered on Monday August 7, it considered that this measure, which aimed to prohibit “seated or lying down” on public roads in the city center on the grounds that it constituted “an obstacle to pedestrian traffic”, porte “a disproportionate attack on the freedom to come and go and on the freedom of assembly”. The judge also reduced the perimeter of the streets in which the decree prohibits “any abusive and prolonged occupation, whether or not accompanied by solicitations or requests from passers-by”.
Read also: In Angoulême, a controversial decree to drive out the marginalized and the homeless from the city center
The mayor of Angoulême justified this decree by “the usual presence in certain streets (…) groups of individuals, immobile or not very mobile, whether or not accompanied by animals (…) who exhibit disruptive behavior. and threaten public order. He was reporting from “numerous complaints from local residents and shopkeepers (…) concerning the nuisances caused by these groups of individuals (noise, offensive uproar, defilement, brawls, etc.)”, which, “by their repetition, significantly disturb the public tranquility”.
Implicitly targeted were the marginalized and the homeless (SDF) who tend to stroll in the city center, especially on the Place du Champ-de-Mars. The measure was to apply every day from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., from April to October, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., from November to March. Offenders were liable to a fine of 35 euros and 150 euros in the event of a repeat offence.
“Serious doubt” about the legality
The publication of this municipal decree had been denounced by the League of Human Rights (LDH), the association Bar of the streets, the Abbé-Pierre Foundation and the association Right to housing, joined by several citizens of Angoulême. In their interim suspension, the lawyers for the LDH, Messrs Marion Ogier and Lionel Crusoé, considered that this decision was a disproportionate attack on the freedom to come and go and was of a discriminatory nature, in that it specifically targeted a category of people.
The judge in chambers agrees with them. She considers that the part of the municipal decree aimed at prohibiting “seated or lying down” present “too general in nature with regard to the objective of safeguarding public order” and that as a result, it gives rise “serious doubt” on its legality. She therefore pronounced her immediate suspension.
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