Fighting racial checks: half-hearted recognition by the Council of State
The Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, issued a decision on Wednesday recognizing “the existence” of facial checks, while declaring itself incompetent to force the State to change its practices. This decision follows a group action filed by six NGOs and associations, which asked the Council of State to take measures to combat this discriminatory practice.
If the Council of State recognizes that facial checks are not limited to isolated cases and that they constitute discrimination for people targeted because of their physical appearance, it considers that it is not up to it to define a public policy or to order the State to do so. This decision was criticized by the applicants who denounced a lack of accountability on the part of public authorities in the face of marked collective discrimination.
However, the existence of racial checks has been widely documented for years, with statistics showing that people perceived as black or Arab are twenty times more likely to be stopped than the rest of the population. More than just a public policy problem, facial checks are a real scourge for discriminated people.
In addition to recognizing the existence of facial checks, the Council of State also took another decision concerning the readability of law enforcement personnel numbers. The applicants requested that these numbers be displayed visibly in order to guarantee better traceability of controls. The Council of State gave the Ministry of the Interior twelve months to ensure sufficient readability of these numbers for the public.
These decisions by the Council of State highlight the persistent problem of facial checks in France and the responsibilities of public authorities in their fight. If recognizing the existence of this practice is a first step, it is now essential that concrete actions are taken to put an end to it. The stakes are high, because it involves guaranteeing equal treatment for all citizens, regardless of their physical appearance.