French child curfew criticised

Cannes is also ready to impose a curfew

A landmark decision by a French court allowing a city to impose a summer curfew on children under 13 has met with scepticism from human rights groups and opposition parties.

On Monday the Council of State - France's highest administrative authority - said it was legal for the mayor of the central city of Orleans to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew in three tough neighbourhoods.

This decision has set a national precedent. The Council of State understood that the curfew is just one facet of a coherent anti-delinquency strategy

Florent Montillot, Orleans' deputy mayor

The decision is a first for France, as the court had rejected previous attempts by several towns to prevent teenagers from being out on the streets at night.

The French League of Human Rights said the curfew would further stigmatise areas already judged to be difficult or dangerous.

But several other cities, many of them on the Riviera, are likely to reimpose such bans on selected night spots, with the town of Cannes already saying it will go ahead with original plans.

National precedent

Serge Grouard, the newly elected conservative mayor of Orleans, south of Paris, imposed the 2300 to 0600 curfew on 15 June.

The mayor argued that it was aimed at protecting the youngsters and cited a 40% rise in recorded cases of juvenile delinquency in the last five years.

The Orleans curfew is due to run until 15 September - covering the months when young children are on school holidays.

"This decision has set a national precedent. The Council of State understood that the curfew is just one facet of a coherent anti-delinquency strategy," said Florent Montillot, Orleans' deputy mayor.

"Our goal is to accompany the education of children by reminding their parents of their duties," Mr Montillot said.

Opposition

The Council of State accepted the city lawyers' argument that keeping children off the streets at night was in their interest and did not infringe their basic freedom.

Singling out some neighbourhoods may be counter-productive and increase tension

Michel Ricoud, Communist politician

The court said the curfew would protect children from being the victims or perpetrators of violence, but stressed that other towns could not count on being able to impose curfews.

Family and Childhood Minister Segolene Royal, quoted in the newspaper Le Monde, cautioned that "it is not just a matter of taking spectacular measures".

"One has to get to the bottom of the problem and asks oneself why these children are alone at night in the city: where are their parents, have they lost all authority on their children?"

And Michel Ricoud, a local Communist politician quoted by the French news agency AFP, said that "singling out some neighbourhoods may be counter-productive and increase tension".