| Loi relative à la sécurité globale | |
|---|---|
| National Assembly | |
| Territorial extent | France |
| Enacted by | National Assembly |
| Enacted by | Senate |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber: National Assembly | |
| Bill citation | JORF n° 0120 du 26 mai 2021(in French) |
| Introduced by | Jean Castex |
| Introduced | 20 October 2020 |
| First reading | 4 November 2020 –24 November 2020 |
| Second reading | 15 April 2021 |
| Second chamber: Senate | |
| First reading | 3 March 2020 –18 March 2021 |
| Status: In force | |
Theglobal security law is a French legislative text promulgated on 25 May 2021. It is intended to
The last point is primarily regulated in thelaw's Article 24 giving the bill the nicknameArticle 24 in public discourse.
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 theCode pénal.Many provisions are made “on an experimental basis” implying that not all of them are rolled out nationwide in order to keep a control group for comparison.
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]
Articles 7 to 19d concernprivate security companies.Private security guards have to fulfill more qualifications in order to do their job.[5]
The articles 20 through 21 provide a common set of provisions for remote access tobody cameras, police cameras and streetCCTV monitoring systems.[6]Articles 22 through 22b authorize police to deploypolice 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]
Article 24 makes it illegal to photograph law enforcement officers with the intention of “threatening [their] physical or psychological integrity.”[9][10]
Articles 28 through 29b introduce more video surveillance options in public transit and on roads.
Articles 30 to 30c contain miscellaneous.
Special provisions were made for France's overseas territories in articles 31 to 31d.
The law is backed by the governing party.Law enforcement officers were increasingly facing harassment, in particular via online social media.[11][5]Thepolice unionsUNSA[12] andAlliance Police nationale[13] 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.[13]
However, since its proposal, the law was protested by over 100,000 citizens,[14]
and has been met with criticism and protests by journalist[15] and civil rights organizations.
In order to coordinate efforts, on 8 November 2020, many organizations united in the collectiveStop Loi Sécurité Globale.[16]Amnesty International,[9] CNCDH,[17]Quadrature du net,[8] and theUNHCR[15][10] see civil liberties under attack.[6]Public outcry has been mainly over increased surveillance (Articles21 and22) 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 Unionscgt,[21] Amnesty International,[9] and LQDN,[8] among others, criticize that “processing” of imagery could entailfacial recognition, thus putting citizens under general suspicion.
The law was drawn up by the members of the National AssemblyAlice Thourot (LREM, Drôme) andJean-Michel Fauvergue (LREM, Seine-et-Marne), a former commander of aRAID police unit.[1]
On 20 October 2020, examination of the text began in an accelerated procedure which requires only one lecture by the parliament and subsequent approval by thesenate.Thenational 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 24 November 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 partyLREM («En Marche!»)[citation needed] 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,[23][4] the most controversial Article 24 was reworded[20] by the Law Commission of the French Senate.[24]Initiallyany distribution of photographs was penalized.The new wording rather focuses on “causing the identification” of subjects.[24]
France's upper house, The Senate, unanimously approved the amended bill on 18 March 2021,[3] the Day of Political Prisoners.On 15 April 2021, the National Assembly confirmed the changed version with 75 yeas and 33 nays.[25]
In France a law has to be promulgated within 15 days after its final adoption.However, the deadline is suspended if the law is referred to theConstitutional Council.Opposing organizations and local governments had already preemptively announced to call the Constitutional Council.[16]
In its decision of 20 May 2021, the Constitutional Council recognized partial unconstitutionality.[26][27]
With unconstitutional provisions removed, the law was promulgated and published on 25 and 26 May 2021 respectively.[27]