The police carried out an identity in Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines). – V. WARTNER / 20 MINUTES
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The control on the facies, denounced by many associations, is at the heart of a case decided on Tuesday to the Court of cassation. In June 2015, for the first time, the State has been condemned for “serious misconduct” for identity checks to be discriminatory. The State, which filed an appeal in cassation, reverts back to before the justice.

Everything started in 2013, when thirteen men of african descent or a north african had exposed controls abusive, sometimes associated with pat-downs, marks of contempt or of tu, hoping to condemn the State. After a failure in the first instance in October 2013, the complainants had returned in the call, supported this time by the human rights Defender. In June 2015, the Paris court of appeal gave reason to the five of them, condemning the State to pay 1,500 euros in damages to each one.

The court had indeed considered that, in these five cases, were gathered together “presumptions which are serious, precise and concordant” to establish that the checks had been made “taking into account the physical appearance and belonging, true or supposed to an ethnic group or a race” and that the public authority had failed to demonstrate why they were ” justified “. The State appealed in cassation to the five cases in which he has been sentenced, and the eight men who have not succeeded have done the same.

>> also read : Against the controls facies, 13 men and the human rights Defender in front of justice

on Tuesday, the case will be in the hands of the Court of cassation, which does not examine the merits of the case but must say that if, during the appeal decisions, the rules of law have been correctly applied. For the lawyers and the support of thirteen men, ” it is a historic opportunity to strengthen the fundamental rights and the principles of the rule of law “.

beyond these cases, the challenge for associations such as Open Society Justice Initiative and Stop the control the facies is to stop the identity checks carried out on the basis of the appearance and color of skin. In France, the people perceived as “black” and “arab” are controlled, respectively, six and eight times more than those perceived as ” white “, according to a study conducted in 2009 in Paris by Open Society Justice Initiative (an emanation of the Foundation George Soros) and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

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