France lawmakers approve constitutional amendments including state of emergency provisions News
France lawmakers approve constitutional amendments including state of emergency provisions

[JURIST] The French National Assembly [official website, in French] on Tuesday voted to preserve, within the constitution, a process for declaring a state of emergency following the deadly terrorist attacks [JURIST report] last year. The draft constitutional law, “Nation Protection, No. 3381” [text, in French] could allow for administrative detention [RFI report] “without prior permission of the person in the home or place subject to an administrative search,” and administrative searches. Parliament would still have to give approval for a state of emergency lasting longer than 12 days [EXPATICA report].

The French government declared a state of emergency following the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13. In November, French police authorities conducted more than 2,700 raids and enforced 360 house arrests [JURIST report]. In this period, at least 20 complaints were filed against the French government, a majority by the French Muslim population who allege abuse and unfair targeting [JURIST report] of Muslims. On November 19 the French National Assembly voted to extend the state of emergency until February 2016. In December more than 100 organizations issued a statement [JURIST report] asking the French government to lift the state of emergency.