Policing and criminal justice system in France
Recent stories
Sarkozy visits Africa amidst accusations of racism
The African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence has called Sarkozy's visit to Mali in May to discuss immigration, development and Africa-related policies, a 'provocation' describing the new immigration law as 'fundamentally racist'.
18 May 2006 (146 words)
Campaign against disposable immigration formed
On May 13, thousands of people demonstrated in Paris against 'disposable immigration'.
17 May 2006 (156 words)
Foreign marriages and the 'riots'
Since the urban disturbances of November and December 2005, the government has brought in laws that make it more difficult to bring in foreign partners from abroad.
12 May 2006 (247 words)
New legislation hinders Muslim integration
Fouad Alaoui, vice-president of The Union of Islamic Organisations in France, says that new legislation targets Muslims in general and he predicts that, in the run up to the 2007 presidential elections, things will get worse for Muslims.
8 May 2006 (77 words)
Immigration reform promotes 'selective immigration'
New immigration legislation, passed by the parliamentary lower house in May, though subjected to 400 amendments, is aimed at encouraging the selective migration of skilled immigrants while tightening the rules for existing immigrants to bring in foreign partners and family members.
8 May 2006 (218 words)
Sarkozy says that immigration law will combat racism
In an interview in Le Monde, the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said that the new immigration law will help combat racism by ensuring that immigrants are better integrated.
27 April 2006 (115 words)
An introduction to 'France inflamed: riots and reactions'
The recent uprisings across France in October and November 2005 saw anger on unprecedented levels among the residents of the deprived banlieues (suburban ghettoes) on the outskirts of towns and cities, where many of France's ethnic minorities live. The anger was ignited after two teenagers of African origin - Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré - were electrocuted and died while taking refuge in an electricity substation in Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) on 27 October. Their friend, Muhittin Altun, was severely injured.
23 February 2006 (849 words)
Muslim station broadcasts banned
The Council of State has banned broadcasts by al-Manar (the lighthouse) following complaints from within the Jewish community.
18 December 2004 (117 words)
Chirac attacker jailed
Maxime Brunerie, 27, a neo-Nazi sympathiser who took a shot at President Chirac during France's Bastille Day parade two years ago, has been sentenced to ten years in prison.
13 December 2004 (62 words)
Foreigners victims of police violence
According to a report from the Citoyens Justice Police (which includes LDH, MRAP and the lawyers' and magistrates' unions) the vast majority of victims of police violence would appear to be foreigners.
4 December 2004 (151 words)
Administrative court overrules exclusion for anti-Semitic attack
The administrative appeal court ruled on 11 August that the exclusion of two pupils from school, one for physical violence and threatening behaviour, the second for complicity and anti-Semitic insults, constituted a disproportionate sanction.
14 August 2004 (121 words)
March to remember African child killed by police bullet
On 26 June a trainee policeman accidentally fired his gun and the bullet went through the wall into the adjoining apartment where it fatally wounded a 6-year-old.
8 August 2004 (111 words)
Human Rights League condemns record of 2003
The Ligue des Droits de L'Homme has termed 2003 'the largest setback in human rights in France since the Algerian War'.
26 May 2004 (167 words)
Independent commission denounces lawlessness of law enforcers
The Commission nationale de déontologie de la sécurité (national commission for security ethics) has delivered a damning report to the President about the growing incidents of 'unlawful acts of violence' committed by police officers, gendarmes and prison wardens.
10 May 2004 (89 words)
Strasbourg: police killing provokes unrest
On 19 March, a 33-year-old father of Moroccan origin from Neuhof, one of Strasbourg's deprived areas, was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic check.
23 March 2004 (257 words)
New anti-discrimination authority established
The Stasi Commission suggested the creation of a 'grand authority to fight against forms of discrimination and for equality', with its own powers of investigation of public sector employers and private businesses.
17 February 2004 (179 words)
Disqualified from jury trial for wearing a veil
On 24 November 2003, a French woman of North African origin was, at the express request of the minister of justice, replaced as a member of the jury of the court of assize of Seine-Saint Denis (Bobigny, Paris) because she wore an Islamic headscarf.
1 January 2004 (106 words)
Algerian asylum-seeker dies in fall during police raid
Early in September, as police with a bailiff holding a court order carried out an early morning raid on thirteen rooms in Sartrouville's Sanacotra home, Abdennour, a 34-year-old Algerian, fell to his death as he fled in terror.
6 September 2003 (133 words)
Moroccan death in custody case - police cleared
Magistrates conducting the preparatory inquiry at the Bordeaux Court of Appeal have ruled out responsibility of two policemen for the death of Pascal Taïs, a 30-year-old Moroccan found dead on 7 April 1993 at the Arcachon police station in Gironde.
22 August 2003 (223 words)
New crime package targets youth
In the spring of 2003, the government introduced yet another new internal security act, pledging an extra £6billion for the fight against crime and announcing that jobs for 13,500 more police officers would be created.
29 July 2003 (178 words)
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