Several dozen municipalities in France have taken such a measure, the legality of which is however disputed.
The confinement hardens in some French municipalities. From Nice to Arras, via Cholet and Colombes, dozens of mayors have taken orders since Friday March 20, imposing on their residents a night curfew, according to a count made on Sunday by Franceinfo. This measure, intended to combat the spread of Covid-19, exposes offenders to fines of a variable amount, between 38 euros and 135 euros depending on the municipality.
A curfew measure at the departmental level was even taken on Sunday in the Alpes-Maritimes. It will apply from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., only in cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants and in the coastal municipalities of the department, i.e. 24 municipalities in total, reports France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
Do municipalities have the right to impose a curfew? Cited by Var Morning, the Var prefecture claims that “the legal analysis shows that the adoption of the orders concerning the curfew on the medical aspect is the exclusive competence of the prefect”. In the North, the mayor of Jeumont explained to his constituents, on Facebook, that he limited his curfew to minors only. “I do not have the legal possibility, as mayor, to prohibit the circulation of all and to set up what is called a curfew”, said Benjamin Saint-Huile.
Requested by Franceinfo, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed these reservations: “The decrees taken within the framework of the decree imposing confinement (decree of March 16) and aiming to adopt more restrictive measures as regards displacement are within the competence of the prefects”. Municipal decrees could therefore end up being withdrawn, canceled by administrative courts or replaced by prefectural decrees.
Click on the towns to read the curfew schedules specific to each. Despite our vigilance, some municipalities may have been forgotten in this map, updated Sunday at 6 p.m.
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