Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

France Adds Abortion Rights to Its Constitution

 As reported by AP, France's Parliament yesterday gave final approval to a Constitutional amendment that guarantees abortion rights:

The measure was approved in a 780-72 vote in the Palace of Versailles. Abortion enjoys wide support in France across most of the political spectrum, and has been legal since 1975....

Both houses of France’s parliament, the National Assembly and Senate, had separately adopted a bill to amend Article 34 of the French Constitution, but the amendment needed final confirmation by a three-fifths majority in the special joint session. The measure specifies that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”...

The government argued in its introduction to the bill that the right to abortion is threatened in the United States, where the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a 50-year-old ruling that used to guarantee it....

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Menorah Lighting Triggers Debate Over Secularism In France

The Forward (Dec. 11) reports that a new controversy over the meaning of secularism is raging since last week in France:

The scene of the figurative bonfire was, remarkably, the official home of the president, the Elysée Palace.... [Emmanuel] Macron was awarded the Lord Jacobovits Prize, an award ... to honor individuals who have distinguished themselves in the combat against antisemitism and the defense of the freedom to practice the Jewish faith.

Thursday also happened to be the first night of Hanukkah.... Haim Korsia, the chief rabbi of France, decided to mark the holiday. While Macron, hands clasped in front, stood to one side, Korsia lit both the shamash and first candle while intoning the blessings. Macron also lit a candle, though not for festival of light but instead for the memory of the millions who died in the Shoah.

... [L]ater that evening, Mendel Samama, one of the rabbis who attended the ceremony, released a video of the lighting, which he hailed as “Historique!”

... For the first time since 1905 and the promulgation of the law separating the French state and church — one that affirmed the strict neutrality of the former in religions affairs and relegated the latter to the private sphere — a religious ceremony was held inside the presidential palace. As a result, what was kept alive on that first night was not the miracle of the Jewish holiday, but the meaning of French laicity. The event was, as one commentator declared, “without precedent.”

Almost immediately, the festival of lights was overtaken by critics lighting into Macron for desecrating the secular purity of the French republic.

Monday, September 11, 2023

France's Conseil D'Etat Upholds Ban on Wearing Abayas in Schools

On Thursday, France's Council of State upheld the government's ban Muslim girls wearing the abaya at school.   France 24 explains:

President Emmanuel Macron's government announced last month it was banning the abaya in schools, saying it broke the rules on secularism in education that have already seen Muslim headscarves banned on the grounds that they constitute a display of religious affiliation. 

But an association representing Muslims filed a motion with the State Council, France's highest court for complaints against state authorities, for an injunction against the ban on the abaya and the qamis, its equivalent dress for men.

The association argued the ban was discriminatory and could incite hatred against Muslims, as well as racial profiling.

The court's decision, available in French (Association Action Droits des Musulman, (Conseil D'Etat, Sept. 7, 2023) (full text), is summarized by Daily News:

Wearing the abaya "is part of a logic of religious affirmation", estimated the judge in summary proceedings....

Accordingly, its prohibition "does not constitute a serious and manifestly unlawful interference with the right to respect for private life, freedom of worship, the right to education and respect for the best interests of the child or principle of non-discrimination,” he said.

Friday, May 19, 2023

European Court Upholds Politician's Conviction for Failing to Remove Third Party Hate Speech from His Facebook Page

In Sanchez v. France, (ECHR, May 15, 2023), the European Court of Human Rights by a vote of 13-4 in a Grand Chamber judgment upheld France's conviction of a candidate for election to Parliament who was convicted of inciting violence against Muslims when he failed to promptly remove anti-Muslim postings by third parties placed on his Facebook page. The authors of the comments were convicted as accomplices. The majority concluded that the conviction did not violate Article 10, §1 of the European Convention on Human Rights since that section permits an interference with free expression when "necessary in a democratic society."  The majority said in part:

148.  While political speech calls for an elevated level of protection, the freedom of political debate is not absolute in nature....

149.  Since tolerance and respect for the equal dignity of all human beings constitute the foundations of a democratic, pluralistic society, it follows that, in principle, it may be considered necessary in certain democratic societies to penalise or even prevent all forms of expression that propagate, encourage, promote or justify hatred based on intolerance (including religious intolerance), provided that any “formalities”, “conditions”, “restrictions” or “penalties” imposed are proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued.... 

176.  ... [I]n an election context, the impact of racist and xenophobic discourse becomes greater and more harmful.... That is particularly true in the present circumstances where the political and social climate was troubled, especially at the local level with “clear tensions within the population, which were evident in particular from the comments at issue, but also between the protagonists”.... 

209.  ... [T]he Court finds that the decisions of the domestic courts were based on relevant and sufficient reasons, both as to the liability attributed to the applicant, in his capacity as a politician, for the unlawful comments posted in the run-up to an election on his Facebook “wall” by third parties, who themselves were identified and prosecuted as accomplices, and as to his criminal conviction. The impugned interference can therefore be considered to have been “necessary in a democratic society”.

The Court also posted a Legal Summary of the decision.

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

European Court Upholds France's Conviction of Journalist for Inciting Anti-Muslim Hatred

In Zemmour v. France, (EDHR, Dec. 20, 2022) (full text of decision in French), the European Court of Human Rights upheld France's conviction of a journalist for inciting discrimination and religious hatred against the French Muslim community through anti-Muslim remarks he made on a 2016 television talk show.  According to the Court's English language press release summarizing the decision, the Court found no violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights protecting freedom of expression.  The press release says in part:

The Court was of the opinion that his remarks had not been confined to criticism of Islam but had, in view of the context of terrorist violence in which they had occurred, been made with discriminatory intent such as to call on viewers to reject and exclude the Muslim community. The Court concluded that the grounds on which the domestic courts had convicted the applicant and sentenced him to a fine, the amount of which was not excessive, had been sufficient and relevant. In conclusion the Court held that the interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression had been necessary in a democratic society to protect the rights of others which had been at stake in the case, and therefore there had been no violation of Article 10 of the Convention.

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

French Catholic Bishops Set Up National Canonical Penal Court

On December 5, the Conference of Bishops of France in a lengthy press release (full text in French) announced the creation of a National Canonical Penal Court.  According to National Catholic Reporter:

[The Bishops' statement] said the 20-member court, approved by the Vatican in September, would be tasked with judging "canonical offenses committed by clergy and laity" nationwide, such as acts of sacrilege, apostasy, schism, misuse of sacraments and teachings against the church's magisterium. The court aimed to "strengthen and harmonize" procedures formerly followed by diocesan and archdiocesan tribunals....

Establishment of the court, partly staffed by lay experts, was one of 45 recommendations by an Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church in its 2,500-page report released in October 2021.... 

However, while the new court would hear accusations involving adults, claims of sexual offenses by clergy against minors and canonical complaints against bishops would continue to be referred to the Vatican, the statement said.

The bishops' statement said church courts were "specific to the church's religious purposes," and complied with the country's 1905 church-state separation law.

Saturday, November 05, 2022

European Court: Human Rights Convention Violated When French Authorities Failed to Assure Respect for Foster Child's Birth Religion

In Loste v. France, (ECHR, Nov. 3, 2022) (full text in French) (Press Release summary in English), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber judgment held that France's child welfare service violated Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights when it failed to assure that a Jehovah's Witness foster family was respecting the Muslim beliefs of its foster child's birth family. The Court's decision also dealt with a separate issue--French authorities' failure to protect the foster child from sexual abuse by her foster father. Law & Religion UK has more on the decision.

Sunday, October 16, 2022

European Court: Suspended Prison Sentence For Protest In Catholic Church Violated Rights Of Abortion Rights Activist

In Bourton v. France, (ECHR, Oct. 13, 2022) (full text of decision in French), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that a French court's imposition of a suspended one-month prison sentence on a 39-year feminist activist charged with "sexual exposure" violated her rights of freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights. The French court had also ordered defendant to pay damages and costs totaling 3500 Euros.  According to the English language press release from the European Court:

On 20 December 2013 [Eloise Bouton] staged a protest in the church of La Madeleine in Paris, but not during mass, by standing in front of the high altar while exposing her breasts, revealing slogans daubed across her body, and pretending to carry out an abortion using raw beef liver as a prop. Her performance was brief and she left the church when so requested by the choirmaster. The protest received media coverage, about ten journalists having been present....

The purpose of the applicant’s mise en scène had been to convey, in a symbolic place of worship, a message relating to a public and societal debate on the positioning of the Catholic Church on a woman’s right to free disposal of her body, including the right to have an abortion.

In these circumstances, the [European] Court [of Human Rights] took the view that the applicant’s freedom of expression should have been afforded a sufficient level of protection since the content of her message related to a matter of public interest....

The Court reiterated that the imposition of a prison sentence for an offence in the area of political speech would be compatible with freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention only in exceptional circumstances, as, for example, in the case of hate speech or incitement to violence....

The Court found that the grounds given by the domestic courts had not been sufficient for it to consider that they had weighed up the interests at stake in an appropriate manner and in accordance with the criteria established in its case-law....

Wednesday, August 03, 2022

French Constitutional Tribunal Upholds Regulation Of Religious Associations

France's Constitutional Council last month in Union of Diocesan Associations of France and others  (Conseil constitutionnel, July 22, 2022) upheld the constitutionality of several provisions of law governing religious institutions in France. It upheld the requirement that a religious organization must register with a government official in order to enjoy benefits available specifically to a religious association.  It found that this did not infringe freedom of association, and also concluded in part:

[The provisions] have neither the purpose nor the effect of carrying the recognition of a religion by the Republic or of hindering the free exercise of religion.... Accordingly, the contested provisions, which do not deprive the free exercise of worship of legal guarantees, do not infringe the principle of secularism.

The court also rejected an equal protection challenge to a provision limiting religious organizations to realizing no more than 50% of their revenues from apartment buildings they own. Finally it upheld provisions allowing the state to require a religious association to conform its stated purposes to its actual activities and requirements; for reporting of a religious association's places of worship; and, when requested, to provide a government official with financial information including amounts used for religious activities and amounts of foreign financing. However, the court cautioned:

While such obligations are necessary and suited to the objective pursued by the legislator, it will nevertheless be up to the regulatory power to ensure, by setting the specific methods for implementing these obligations, that the constitutional principles of freedom of action are respected.

The court issued a press release announcing the decision.  Law & Religion UK also reports on the decision.

Thursday, June 23, 2022

French High Court Says City Must Ban Burkinis In Municipal Pools

 CNN reports that on Tuesday, France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, held that the city of Grenoble cannot permit Muslim women to wear the full-length "burkini" bathing suit in its municipal swimming pools. The court said that doing so would compromise principles of religious neutrality and "the equal treatment of users." The court went on to say that the city's initial decision to permit burkinis did so to satisfy religious demands. A French anti-separatism law passed last year prohibits actions whose "manifest objective is to give in to sectarian demands with religious aims."

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the Council of State's opinion in the case.

Friday, March 04, 2022

French High Court Upholds Ban On Lawyers Wearing Religious Garb In Court

France's Court of Cassation, one of the country's four courts of last resort, this week upheld a rule of the Lille bar association that provides: "the lawyer may not wear with the robe either decoration or sign ostensibly manifesting a religious, philosophical, community or political affiliation or opinion."  One of the litigants was a law student who wears a hijab.  In Appeal No. 20-20.185, (Ct. Cassation, March 2, 2022), the court said in part:

[T]he Court of Appeal held that the will of a bar association to impose on its members, when they appear before a court ... to wear a uniform suit contributes to ensuring the equality of lawyers and, through this, the equality of litigants..., that in order to protect their rights and freedoms, each lawyer, in the exercise of his functions of defense and representation, must erase what is personal to him and that the wearing of the costume of his profession without any sign distinctive is necessary to testify to its availability to any litigant.

24. The Court of Appeal ... rightly deduced that the prohibition ... was necessary in order to achieve the legitimate aim pursued, namely to protect the independence of the lawyer and ensure the right to a fair trial, but was also, without any discrimination, adequate and proportionate to the objective sought.

Jurist reports on the decision.

Wednesday, October 06, 2021

French Commission Reports On History Of Sexual Abuse In Catholic Church

As reported by CNN, France's Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) yesterday filed its final report:

Members of the Catholic clergy in France sexually abused an estimated 216,000 minors over the past seven decades, according to a damning report published Tuesday that said the Church had prioritized the protection of the institution over victims who were urged to stay silent.

The number of abused minors rises to an estimated 330,000 when including victims of people who were not clergy but had other links to the Church, such as Catholic schools and youth programs. Between 2,900 and 3,200 abusers were estimated to have worked in the French Catholic Church between 1950 and 2020, out of a total of 115,000 priests and other clerics, the report found.

An English language 32-page summary (full text) of the Final Report is available online. It includes 45 recommendations to prevent future abuse, Links to the full text in French of the Final Report, Testimony and other documents are available here.

Saturday, April 17, 2021

French Top Court Says Anti-Semitic Murderer of Jewish Woman Is Mentally Unfit To Stand Trial

France 24 reports that France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, ruled on Wednesday that a Muslim man who murdered Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman, was not criminally responsible for the act.  The report says in part:

Halimi, an Orthodox Jewish woman in her sixties, died in 2017 after being pushed out of the window of her Paris flat by neighbour Kobili Traoré, who shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic).

The verdict by the Court of Cassation, means Traoré will not face any trial. It confirmed past rulings from lower courts. 

Traoré, a heavy pot smoker, has been in psychiatric care since Halimi's death. The court said he committed the killing after succumbing to a "delirious fit" and was thus not responsible for his actions....

Following Wednesday's verdict, lawyers representing Halimi's family said they intend to refer the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

French Council of State Says Capacity Limits On Worship Services Are Too Strict

Religious freedom challenges to COVID-19 restrictions have spread to Europe. EuroWeekly reports that on Friday French Catholic bishops appealed to the Council of State, the country's highest court, challenging the country's 30-person limit on religious ceremonies. According to Reuters, today the Council of State ordered the government to review the restrictions, saying:

The claimants are right in saying that the measure is disproportionate in light of protecting the public's health ... thus it is a serious and illegal infringement on the freedom of worship.

According to Reuters:

The Conference of French Bishops welcomed the ruling and said that it would meet French Prime Minister Jean Castex later on Sunday to discuss new rules to limit the risk of coronavirus infection during church services.

"No other activity is limited by such a limitation regardless of surface area," it said.

Catholic organisations are proposing to allow churches to utilise 30% of their seating capacity.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

France's Council of State Orders Lifting of COVID-19 Ban On Worship Services

Yesterday, France's highest court, the Council of State, ruled that within 8 days the government must lift its COVID-19 ban on gatherings at houses of worship. Currently only funerals, with no more than 20 people in attendance may be held in houses of worship.  Reporting on the decision, Euronews said:
The judge highlighted that the government authorised public gatherings of up to 10 people in other settings and that as such the blanket ban "is disproportionate to the objective of preserving public health."
The ruling adds that freedom of worship is a fundamental right which "includes among its essential components the right to participate collectively in ceremonies, in particular in places of worships" and that the government's decree "constitutes a serious and manifestly unlawful interference with it".
It called on the government to take measures that are "strictly proportionate to the health risks incurred".
[Thanks to Eric Rassbach via Epidemiclaw for the lead.]

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

New Survey On Antisemitism In France

American Jewish Committee Paris yesterday released a new 35-page report on antisemitism in France (Full text of report). The report analyzes surveys conducted in October and November of 2019. AJC's release summarizing the report says in part:
Nearly three-quarters, 73%, of the French public, and 72% of Jews, consider antisemitism a problem that affects all of French society. 47% of the general public and 67% of the Jewish respondents say the level of antisemitism in France is high, while 27% and 22%, respectively, say it is low.
While 53% of the general public say antisemitism has been increasing, and 18% decreasing, in recent years, 77% of Jews say it has increased and 12% decreased....
... 70 percent of French Jews say they have been victims of at least one antisemitic incident in their lifetime, 64% have suffered anti-Semitic verbal abuse at least once, and 23% have been targets of physical violence on at least one occasion, with 10 percent saying they were attacked several times.

Saturday, March 09, 2019

French Cardinal Convicted of Covering Up Child Abuse Reports

In France on Thursday, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the Archbishop of Lyon, was convicted of failing to report child abuse to authorities.  As reported by the New York Times, in 2014 and 2015 parishioners told the Archbishop of abuse of dozens of Boy Scouts that took place in the late 1980's and early 1990's by one of his priests, Rev. Bernard Preynat. The Archbishop was given a 6-month suspended sentence and fined 45,000 Euros (over $50,000 U.S.). Five other church officials and employees tried with Cardinal Barbarin were acquitted. (Full text of judgment in French).

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

UN Committee Says France's Anti-Niqab Law Violates Free Exercise Rights

The United Nations Human Rights Committee yesterday issued a press release on two decisions issued Oct. 22:
In two landmark decisions, the United Nations Human Rights Committee found that France violated the human rights of two women by fining them for wearing the niqab, a full-body Islamic veil....
The Committee found that the general criminal ban on the wearing of the niqab in public introduced by the French law disproportionately harmed the petitioners’ right to manifest their religious beliefs, and that France had not adequately explained why it was necessary to prohibit this clothing. In particular, the Committee was not persuaded by France’s claim that a ban on face covering was necessary and proportionate from a security standpoint or for attaining the goal of “living together” in society. 
The decisions (available only in French) are Hebbadj v. France and Yaker v. France.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

French Mayor Bars Pork Alternatives In Schools

The Washington Post yesterday reports on the newest battle in France over how to implement the principle of secularism (laïcité ):
Beaucaire, in the south of France, has become the latest fault line in a battle over the place of Islam in a staunchly secular society. On the day school started back after the holiday break, Julien Sanchez, the town’s 34-year-old mayor — and a member of the far-right National Front — outlawed alternatives to pork in school cafeterias, insisting that religious exceptions to the menu violate France’s vaunted Republican principles.
For many, his message was clear: Being French means eating pork, Muslims (and Jews) be damned. Unsurprisingly, outrage immediately ensued from virtually every corner of society: parents, the local opposition, Muslim leaders and even the French government.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

French Court Says School Must Offer Muslim Children An Alternative To Pork At Lunch

According to The Guardian yesterday, in France a trial court judge has told local officials that they must re-institute a policy of offering an alternative to pork meals for school lunches. A court in Dijon told officials in Chalon-sur-Saône that a refusal to offer an alternative for Muslim children is not "in keeping with the spirit of the international convention on the rights of children" nor "in the interests of the children." The the mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône, a member of the right wing Les Républicains party, argued that by requiring all children to eat together, the city was upholding the French Republic’s principle of laïcité  (secularism). The city plans an appeal.