De-radicalisation and Integration in France: Legal & Policy Framework

Résumé 0

France has a decades-long record of developing mechanisms of counterterrorism and intelligence in its struggle against various forms of violent extremism. It is however relatively new to the field of (de)radicalisation. The first comprehensive, non-security-based reforms addressing political violence appeared only in 2013, considerably later than in other countries dealing with similar threats, such as the United States or the UK. The policies and subsequent legislative initiatives were triggered first by the 2013 series of shootings targeting French soldiers and a Jewish school, committed by Mohammed Merrah, a jihadist radical, and then took a form of utmost urgency after the emblematic series of jihadist attacks in January and November 2015. Since then, France has been constantly upgrading its arsenal of counterterrorist efforts and expanding the scope and variety of its deradicalisation measures, albeit directing them, almost exclusively, against jihadist violence and radicalisation.In what follows, we trace the main reforms introduced by the French government in response to the rise of political extremism, point to the shortcomings of their narrow focus on jihadist violence, and analyse their impact on the French constitutional structure, legislative framework, policymaking, and social fabric. This report begins with a short overview of the socio-economic, political and cultural context of radicalisation in France. The overview touches upon issues of political polarisation; immigration and the French policy of integration towards migrants; the principle of laïcité [secularism] and its implementation in the context of jihadist radicalisation; inequality and social protests; and finally, provides a brief history of extremist violence in France.The next part examines those elements in the constitutional structure of the French regime that affect or are affected by deradicalisation efforts. It explains the relation between the principle of indivisibility of the French Republic and its decentralised governance; the constitutional status of laïcité, the fundamental rights protected in the French constitutional documents, and surveys the decisions of the French Constitutional Council on the constitutionality of the government’s counterterrorist and deradicalisation reforms. The report then goes on to analyse the legislative framework that makes these reforms possible. It addresses legislation in the fields of security, counterterrorism, surveillance technology, intelligence, radicalisation in prisons, administrative banning of violent groupings and organisations, restriction of religious freedoms, religiously motivated radicalisation, online hate speech and fake news. Next, the report offers an overview of the comprehensive national plans, government policies and institutional structure that implement and enforce the existing legislative scheme, and often also precipitate the next legislative initiatives.Finally, the report maps out the main programmes and instruments of deradicalisation employed by the French government and its partnering organisations. This part evaluates the success and prospects of French policies of deradicalisation in public education – the institution on which the current administration pins most hopes in this respect – as well as in the prison system, and in several other programmes of rehabilitation and social reintegration for radicalised individuals. The report’s conclusions suggest several changes in the current legal regime of deradicalisation that aim to minimise the infringements it generates upon individual rights and the rule of law, while improving its contribution to public security.