Around thirty mayors from Côtes-d’Armor were summoned before the administrative court of Rennes on 3 and 12 September for having issued orders requiring the State to take action in the face of their population’s difficulties in accessing healthcare.

The two interim relief judges suspended the execution of the orders on Friday. On the issue of legal competence, the mayors argued that the “shortcomings of the State in matters of health in their territory” do not allow “effective access to care” and therefore “constitute an attack on the dignity of the human person” and a “disturbance of public order”. However, the “administrative police powers” vested in mayors – namely ensuring “good order, safety, security and public health” – cannot “allow (…) the issuance of a formal notice and an injunction subject to a penalty payment against the State tending to it taking measures in a specific direction falling within its sole competence”, the magistrates recalled.

“Given the current state of the investigation, the argument that the orders (…) are tainted by incompetence is likely to create serious doubt as to their legality,” they conclude. The legality of these orders will be re-examined on the merits by the same administrative court in Rennes.

“A prefect would never have sent mayors to court”

This Friday, September 13, the elected officials are offended. In a press release, the mayors first deplore the fact that “the prefect of Côtes-d’Armor refused mediation with local elected officials, considering that the level of access to health is adequate in the department and that consultation bodies exist.”

They also specify that “the court did not annul the municipal decrees but suspended them for legal reasons, without taking into account the substantive elements.”

Present at the hearing on Thursday, September 12, the mayor of Plouha, Xavier Compain, described the bitterness and determination of local elected officials: “The State is condescending towards us. We are told that we are not legitimate, not competent to challenge the State and get answers for our population. We are refused mediation. Thirty or forty years ago, a prefect would never have sent mayors to court! We must hear each other on the substance: we, the mayors, will no longer be able to stem the country’s anger over all these unravelings in public services.”

“Let the State return to the field and become aware”

“For about five or six months, every week, I have had two or three questions about the impossibility of getting medical appointments. We are not fantasizing, we are not angry. We know the value of public money. The State must return to the field to become aware and make decisions.”

“All this grounds us. We are disappointed for the territory we represent, for our constituents, but at the same time, it is a strength,” concludes the mayor of Plouha, who points out that grievance books are being deployed in the town halls. The mayors are due to meet next week to discuss the continuation of their mobilization.