CRIMINALIZATION AND PUNISHMENT

Discriminatory fixed penalty on-the-spot fines for petty offenses are a rapidly growing problem in France, constituting a new form of discriminatory harassment by law enforcement. Police levy repeat fines on young racialized men and children in “sensitive urban areas” attempting to evict them from public spaces. The fines lead to significant debts for already impoverished families, forcing impossible choices between paying the fines or paying the rent and buying food. In the worst cases, people have been evicted from their homes. Fine debts may be transmitted after death as part of a person’s estate. A growing list of fixed penalty fines can also lead to a criminal record and imprisonment for repeat offences (amendes forfaitaires délictuelles).
These fixed penalty fines are entirely at the discretion of the police, enabling them to enforce the law arbitrarily and severely limiting the possibility of appealing a fine. The police officer decides whether an offence has been committed and on the appropriate punishment. There is no role for a judge, lawyer, court hearings or other basic criminal procedure. The police report levying the fine constitutes proof of guilt; in order to appeal a fine, the person must demonstrate their innocence, reversing the fundamental criminal law principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ As fines are often sent by mail, weeks or months after the alleged offences, people’s recollection of details is limited at best, effectively making an appeal impossible.
The French Human Rights Defender has raised the alarm, stating that :
“[These powers] derogate from numerous principles of criminal law and procedure, in particular the right to respect for the presumption of innocence, the adversarial principle and the rights of the defense, the principle of individualization of penalties, and the right of access to a judge.” (Human Rights Defender, Avis no. 22-06, 24 october 2022, p. 3)
In the absence of any effective individual recourse, (RE)Claim believes that collective strategies are essential to challenge fining practices and defend people’s rights.