French Court Weighs Police Identity Checks Amid Discrimination Claims

The highest administrative court examined the request of the six associations and NGOs, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or Open Society Justice Initiative. For these NGOs, the identity checks carried out by the police constitute "systemic discrimination". These checks "are not just a public policy problem, it is a scourge," insisted Me Antoine Lyon-Caen, representing the six organizations.

"Identity check, it’s the first encounter of young people with public authority. If, as we demonstrate, this practice of identity checks based on appearance is widespread [...], it means that the young people, humiliated by these checks, will be deeply marked. It is a problem on which our social cohesion depends," he added, specifying that there is "an industry of identity checks based on appearance". They are estimated at 14 million per year, according to data from a 2016 National Assembly report.

This practice is a "cancer" for society, added Me Patrice Spinosi, another lawyer for the applicants who denounce a practice "illegal under French law [...] and international". They are asking the Council of State "to note the serious failure of the State consisting in allowing these checks to continue" and "to order the authorities to take the necessary measures to remedy it", arguing that

The public rapporteur, Esther de Moustier, for her part called for the dismissal of the request and to "take into account the means already mobilized" by the government. In June 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal had condemned this practice. Before it, the Court of Cassation had condemned the State for gross negligence in 2016. If the Council of State were to reject the NGOs’ request, it would be tantamount to saying that "the evil exists, but the doctor cannot intervene," stressed Me Lyon-Caen.