As deconfinement started on Monday May 11, the government announced a ban on private gatherings of more than 10 people. However, the decree published on May 12 does not mention it. Verbalizing such offenses would not have been possible anyway, say two lawyers who specialize in civil liberties.
On April 28, as he presented the national exit strategy from the confinement, Edouard Philippe declares before the National Assembly: the gatherings on public or private roads will be limited to 10 people
. No question therefore of celebrating the 10 years of the youngest with the whole extended family, friends and neighbors.
The deconfinement started on Monday 11 May, followed by its implementing decree on 12 May. If the gatherings on the public highway are well limited to 10 people, the decree does not mention gatherings in a private setting
, comments Me Nicolas Prigent, Rennes lawyer specializing in public freedoms.
Is this an oversight on the part of the government, which has nevertheless communicated strongly on the subject? Not all politicians are lawyers
, reminds me Valérie Castel-Pagès, lawyer of the Rennes bar.
This fundamental freedoms specialist sees in this a gap between government expectations and legal constraints: we can have a will, express it in the media, but then realize that it poses practical difficulties
.
Verbalization impossible
The Constitutional Council has let nothing go. In their opinion of May 11, the Sages make it clear that these constraints are relating to establishments open to the public and meeting places
, not private homes.
Because to verbalize the deviations from such a provision would have been delicate, with a difficulty for the police to find the offense
, explains Me Prigent. In order to establish a contravention, the police must be able to establish the offense.
However, this would have been complicated, since the police, if it is not a crime or a flagrant offense, cannot enter the home to find the offense and verbalize
, abounds Me Caste-Pagès.
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