When the state is at fault. The Administrative Court of Lille ordered this Friday the Keeper of the Seals and the Lille prosecutor’s office to erase personal data from a file listing those in custody during the mobilization against the pension reform.
The court had been seized in summary proceedings by the Association for the Defense of Constitutional Liberties (Adelico), the Union of Lawyers of France and the Human Rights League (LDH), on the basis of an article by Mediapart denouncing the creation of such a file.
The court condemns the State to pay a global sum of 3,000 euros to the applicants, mentions the decision. The judge in chambers “believes that the creation by the Lille public prosecutor’s office, outside of any regulatory framework, of a file listing the surnames, first names and dates of birth of each demonstrator placed in police custody during demonstrations against the pension reform, as well as the criminal consequences given, seriously and manifestly illegally undermines the right to respect for the private life of the persons concerned and orders the erasure of the personal data it contains”, summarizes a press release issued by the court.
A simple management tool, according to the executive
“This is clearly a real call to order,” said LDH lawyer Marion Ogier. According to the League, the file has been constituted since March 17, following the hardening of the mobilization after the use of 49.3.
At the hearing, a representative of the Ministry of Justice assured that this file was authorized by the decree governing the Cassiopée database, which brings together in secure software the data of defendants, victims or witnesses of legal proceedings over the past ten years.
A simple management tool, it “allows the management of a particular event” with a high “volume of police custody”, explained another representative, referring to the existence of other files of this type in other cities.