Violence at demonstrations: in the wake of power in the fight against rioters

The mobilization against pension reform is such that the theme of managing violence during demonstrations has returned to the former. Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin are scheduled to meet this Friday to work on maintaining order. Together they will think about a new law to combat violators. “If the Republicans introduce legislation, I will propose to vote for it,” Gerald Darmanin already pointed out this Thursday morning on RMC.

Several paths are already being considered, but they will have to take into account the fact that in 2019 a law aimed at preventing violence during demonstrations and punishing those responsible was partially rejected by the Constitutional Council.

Chemical labeling

Back in 2019, during the events of Yellow Vests, the government had already drawn code-marked products (PMCs) to fight against bandits. They returned recently during the clashes in Sainte-Solin (Deux-Sevres), where, according to the Niort prosecutor’s office, people were arrested “after the discovery of a code-marked product.”

For Driss Ait Yousef, a doctor of public law and a security specialist, this method has its limits, in particular because the presence of traces in itself is not evidence of involvement in a crime.

Administrative prohibitions

In 2019, the Constitutional Council censored a provision allowing prefects to impose an administrative ban on demonstrations against people “posing a threat to public order”. The government could think about how to continue this path, making it constitutional.

This Thursday at RMC, Gérald Darmanin rightly made it clear that he wanted to “apply to demonstrations what applies to football matches” where violent fans are banned from the stadium.

According to Driss Ait Youssef, the Interior Minister is on the wrong track by relying on this comparison because the two situations are very different. “Freedom of demonstration is subject to constitutional protection, in particular through the freedom to come and go or the right to collective expression of ideas and opinions,” he recalls.

In addition, it is currently possible that a ban on demonstrations can be declared, but only by a judicial authority, for example, in the event of additional punishment. On the other hand, it seems difficult for a specialist to have such a decision taken in a preventive manner by an administrative body, for example, prefects.

The crime of building barricades

According to our colleagues from France Info, one of the directions envisaged by the government would be to establish the crime of building barricades. And here its implementation seems especially difficult for Driss Ayt Youssef. A possible law on the subject would require a detailed definition of the barricade itself. “Then the question of assistance will arise. Will moving the plank count as participating in the construction of the barricade? asks the doctor of public law.

Existing measures?

If the government seems to want to build on new legislative instruments, this is not necessarily everyone’s opinion. “We have many laws. (…) The problem is not to make laws, but to apply them,” judged, for example, former LREM MP Jean-Michel Fauverg on Sud Radio this Thursday, referring, for example, to article 6 of the 2019 law year, which carries a penalty of one year’s imprisonment and a fine for concealing one’s face “in the immediate vicinity of a demonstration (…) during or at the end of which public disorder has been or may be committed”.

According to Driss Ait Youssef, the adoption of the new law may even be counterproductive. “Showing that we are actively working with laws that are not applicable or difficult to implement, it just gives a feeling of powerlessness and bankruptcy of the state,” he said. On Wednesday, at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, government spokesman Olivier Veran appeared unsure of the turn of events, saying “there is no answer at this stage” about the need for a new law.