An adviser to France's top administrative court has urged it to reject a class-action lawsuit against the state alleging that the police have failed to address widespread racial profiling, saying the government cannot be held at fault over a lack of reform.
At a landmark hearing at the Conseil d'Etat (Council of State) on Friday, six human rights groups argued that the police discriminate against young North African and black men by targeting them for identity checks.
They are petitioning the council to force the government to make concrete reforms.
But the adviser, public rapporteur Esther de Moustier, said judges did not have the power to impose legislative changes and that the state could not be held "at fault" if policy measures had not brought results.
The court, of which the public rapporteur is a member, is not bound by such opinions but follows the adviser's lead in most cases.
Its decision is expected in the coming weeks.
'Injustice'
A lawyer for the rights groups, which include Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as grassroots youth organisations, urged the council not to follow the recommendation.
Rejecting the case would be like saying that "the pain exists, but the doctor doesn't want to intervene", said the lawyer, Antoine Lyon-Caen.
The rights groups' case is supported by statements from 40 victims as well as police.
"We hope this hearing will bring recognition by the law of the injustice that young people of colour in French cities face every day," Issa Coulibaly, head of Paris community youth group Pazapas, said in a statement.
"To be stopped by police in the middle of the street for no reason; to be spread-eagled, to have your ID checked, to be frisked in front of everyone... Those that don’t live it, don't know it. But everyone needs to know that this injustice must end."
New scrutiny
The government has denied systemic discrimination by police, and has said that police officers are increasingly targeted by violence.
Police tactics have come under renewed scrutiny after an officer shot dead a 17-year-old of North African origin during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb in June.
The death of Nahel Merzouk triggered protests that became nationwide riots as people complained of longstanding, systemic failures in policing of communities of Arab and African descent.
The riots died down in July, but campaigners hope the shooting has generated lasting momentum. Last weekend thousands of people joined demonstrations around France to denounce police brutality and racism.
Legal first
The case, first filed in 2021, is France's first class-action lawsuit against police.
French courts have found the state guilty of racial profiling in identity checks in the past, but this case is different in that it is seeking reforms instead of damages.
The groups that filed the lawsuit want to require police to record data about identity checks and to abolish preventive ID checks; limits on checks targeting children; new training for police; and an independent mechanism to lodge complaints against police.
If successful, the petition could open the way for similar legal challenges in a country where activism has traditionally taken the form of protest. Class actions only became possible in in France in 2014 and remain rare.
(with Reuters and AP)
