By Layli Foroudi PARIS - France's highest administrative court will on Friday consider its first class action against the state, alleging racial profiling by police - and may in the processSaltWire's Atlantic regional weather forecast for September 28, 2023 | SaltWirePARIS - France's highest administrative court will on Friday consider its first class action against the state, alleging racial profiling by police - and may in the process shape future social activism.
The case, supported by statements from 40 victims as well as police, asks the Conseil d'Etat to require concrete reforms from the government, including limiting police powers to check ID and mandating a record of checks. The U.N. Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination decried the"continuing practice of racial profiling" and urged France to address"structural and systemic causes of racial discrimination" in the police.
Since 2016, France has paid damages to individuals in three cases where police ID checks were found to have been discriminatory. In arguments provided to the court, Lyon-Caen cites as a model a 2013 ruling against New York city over racial profiling and unconstitutional police stop-and-search practices.