PARIS (Reuters) – France’s highest administrative court rejected on Wednesday a class action lawsuit against the state for failing to stop police racial profiling, saying it was not the judges’ role to redefine public policy and that discrimination was a problem but not “systemic”.
The case was brought by six human rights organisations, which argue that the police systematically discriminate, especially against young Arab and Black men, when deciding who to stop on routine patrols. They asked for concrete reforms.
The government and police are under increased scrutiny after an officer shot dead a teenager of North African descent during a traffic stop in June, bringing long-simmering resentment among urban immigrant communities to the boil.
Beyond this case, this is the first ruling on a class action lawsuit against the state, a procedure possible since 2016, and could influence future judicial advocacy actions in France.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Mark Potter)
