The Legal Response to the Paris Attacks: Driven by Reason or Passion?

Presentation by Xavier PHILIPPE, Professor of Public Law at Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III and Director of l'Institut Louis Favoreu.

The terrorist attacks perpetrated in Paris on November 13, 2015 led the French government to determine that the legal framework in place at that time was not sufficient. Believing itself to be “at war”, the government, under the authority of the President of the Republic,entered into a process of constitutional reform in two respects. First, it constitutionalized a state of emergency providing expanded police powers and authorizing limits on fundamental freedoms. Secondly, it constitutionalized the possibility of stripping French citizenship for those who commit terrorist violence. These reforms have ignited a debate within the French legal community and beyond. In this discussion, both the form and substance of the government’s reaction to the November attacks will be analyzed and debated.