If the use of drones is strictly regulated, since the publication of the decree of April 19 authorizing their use for surveillance to fight against urban rodeos, this control device for demonstrations and other events has been particularly denounced. The Council of State as well as the administrative tribunal of the Upper Garonne had been seized. Their decisions have been rendered.
The administrative court of Toulouse rejected the request for suspension of the execution of the decree of May 16, 2023 of the Prefect of Haute-Garonne authorizing the capture, recording and transmission of images by means of drones during the occurrence of urban rodeos.
Seized of a summary freedom, on the basis of article L. 521-2 of the code of administrative justice, in particular by the association for the defense of constitutional freedoms (ADELICO), the union of lawyers of France and the union of the judiciary, the judge in chambers rejected the request “on the grounds that the disputed prefectural decree does not seriously and manifestly illegally affect the right to respect for private life, personal freedom, the right to the protection of personal data and to the freedom to come and go”, communicates the Administrative Court of Toulouse.
No permission for continuous monitoring
To reject the request for suspension submitted to him, the judge in chambers first considered that in view of the perimeters of intervention and the methods of use of the drones as provided for in the decree, the prefect had not not intended to authorize continuous monitoring that is manifestly disproportionate to the purposes pursued.
The judge then considered that the prefect had not committed an error of law in basing his order on the provisions of articles L.242-2, L.242-5 and L.245-5 of the internal security code. since the regular occurrence of urban rodeos in the municipalities in question fell fully within this legal framework. It also considered sufficient prior publicity to the use of a drone and considered that the principle of subsidiarity was not infringed insofar as the existing video surveillance systems and ground forces did not on their own allow to fight effectively against urban rodeos. Finally, the judge in chambers considered that the application of decree no. 2023-283 of April 19, 2023 was not subject to the transmission to the national commission for data processing and freedoms of a doctrine of use.
The Council of State also rejects the request for suspension of the decree
For the lawyer who defended this request for suspension, Me Claire Dujardin, “the court repeated word for word the statements of the representative of the prefecture. He considered that the prefecture was in good faith when there are guarantees, ”she explains before continuing: “It is not a question of good faith but of the legal framework. There, we are content with just these declarations ”.
At the national level, the Council of State also rejected the request for suspension of the decree by ruling on an interim suspension: “There must be an obvious illegality but for the moment the evidence is not there. according to justice. It could be in a year for example, nothing is stopped, ”adds the lawyer.