The interim judge of the Council of State validated Wednesday the use of drones equipped with cameras by the police, estimating in his order that there “is no serious doubt about the legality” of the decree published in April allowing their use.
The highest administrative court had been seized of an interim order from the Association for the Defense of Constitutional Freedoms (Adelico) asking it to urgently suspend this decree, under which the prefects had notably authorized the overflight of the processions of May 1st.
“There is no serious doubt about the legality of this decree, given the guarantees that the legal framework defined by the law and the decree offers with regard to compliance with the requirements for the protection of privacy and personal data resulting from the law. French and European”, ruled the Council of State in its order.
“Sensitive” monitoring
The highest administrative court was called upon to rule on a decree of April 19 allowing the use of these small remote-controlled aircraft.
Adelico and the intervening organizations – the League of Human Rights, the Syndicate of the Judiciary, the Syndicate of Lawyers of France, the Union Syndicale Solidaires and the association La Quadrature du Net – had denounced during a audience of nearly three hours at the Council of State an “excessive” device.
According to them, it makes mass “surveillance” and “collection of sensitive data” possible, and carries “considerable infringements” on the right to respect for private life, the right to the protection of personal data, the freedom of come and go and freedom of demonstration.
The judge in chambers of the Council of State recalled that the use of drones “remains subject to the control of the administrative judge, who can be seized including in an emergency”. “The law and the decree impose the information of the public in the event of use of such devices, which necessarily includes that of the people likely to be filmed”, he underlined.
A decision “in the coming months”
While rejecting the request for emergency suspension, the Council of State recalled that it would decide “on the merits” on the legality of the decree “in the coming months”.
The contested decree is from the law on criminal responsibility and internal security. Voted more than a year ago, it had reintroduced several controversial measures of the Global Security Law rejected by the Constitutional Council in 2021.
The decree authorizes the police, gendarmes, customs officers and soldiers in certain cases to use drones for “the prevention of attacks on the safety of persons and property in particularly exposed places” or for “the safety of gatherings” on the public highway. .
The police can also use these small remote-controlled aircraft for “the prevention of acts of terrorism”, “the regulation of transport flows”, “surveillance of borders with a view to combating their irregular crossing” and “the help people”.