Laurent Nuñez will have to review his copy. The administrative court of Paris on Saturday canceled an order of the prefect of police of the capital prohibiting gatherings, judging that it violated the freedom to demonstrate, according to the order of the judge in chambers.
Seized urgently by several organizations including the League of Human Rights (LDH), the Syndicate of Lawyers of France (SAF) and Solidaires, the court considered that the general ban on demonstrating in several sectors of Paris was not “neither necessary nor proportionate to the preservation of public order”.
Prohibition of carrying pyrotechnic devices
The decree in question, published on Friday, prohibited demonstrations between Saturday 5 p.m. and Sunday 3 a.m. in several sectors of Paris, close to places of power or having been in recent weeks the site of clashes between demonstrators and forces of the order. It also prohibited, near and within demonstrations, the wearing of pyrotechnic devices, dangerous substances or “protective equipment intended to defeat” the maintenance of order. The court therefore found these two bans disproportionate, pointing out that several demonstrations declared on Saturday in Paris went smoothly.
The LDH, the SAF and the Syndicat de la magistrature accused the police headquarters of having taken “on the sly”, “without anyone being informed”, daily orders prohibiting gatherings in a large part of the center of the capital. The one prohibiting “undeclared gatherings” between last Monday 5 p.m. and Tuesday 3 a.m. was for example published at 5.30 p.m.