The town hall cancels the sale of land dedicated to the construction of a place of worship

2023-09-26 19:47:46

It’s a soap opera that has been going on since 2005 and is never ending. By a judgment made public last Friday, the Paris administrative court of appeal confirmed the illegality of the deliberation of the municipal council of Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis) having recorded the sale of the mosque with an interest-free loan to the ‘Bagnolet Charity and Fraternity Association (ABFB).

In July 2005, the municipality of Bagnolet concluded a long-term lease with the ABFB to allow the construction of a mosque on land belonging to the municipality. The law allows public authorities to enter into such a lease to facilitate the construction of a place of worship.

By a deliberation in April 2019, the town hall decided to terminate the lease before its end and to authorize the sale of the land to the association. The municipality set the price in accordance with the amount assessed by the estates service, taking into account both the price of the land and the value of the renunciation of ownership of the building at the end of the lease. However, the Paris administrative court of appeal decided on Friday to cancel the deliberation, pronounced by the Montreuil administrative court.

Prohibition on providing assistance for the exercise of religion

The court is based, mainly, on the ignorance of the law of December 9, 1905 concerning the separation of Churches and State. This law only allows public authorities to finance the maintenance and conservation expenses of religious buildings of which they remained or became owners in 1905, or to grant assistance for repair work on religious buildings. The principle remains the prohibition of providing assistance for the exercise of religion. Public authorities cannot therefore, except through a long lease, make any direct or indirect contribution to the construction of new religious buildings.

The Court specifies that the law of 1905 does not prevent the early termination of the long lease concluded with the ABFB for the construction of a mosque. On the other hand, it judges that the financial conditions for the termination of the lease must respect this law, excluding any direct or indirect aid to a religion. The payment facilities granted by the municipality of Bagnolet were equivalent to the granting of an interest-free loan. However, the municipality had not demonstrated that this advantage had been taken into account in the calculation of the sale price of the land and the value of the renunciation of ownership of the building at the end of the lease. The Court deduces that the municipality must be regarded as having paid to a cultural association a subsidy prohibited by the law of December 9, 1905, and thus confirms the annulment of the municipal council’s deliberation.