France has taken a further step towards making people financially responsible for damage they cause during urban riots in the wake of last weekend's unrest, when largely peaceful demonstrations over the cost of living were marred by widespread looting and destruction of public property.
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The bill, known as the “rioters pay” law, was approved by the French government in mid-September.
Initially drawn up after violence broke out following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory in late May, it is now being presented by the government as a response to violence seen during protests in several French cities last weekend.
The authorities put the cost of damage to shops and public buildings during these at several hundred million euros.
The Senate’s law committee, dominated by an alliance of right-wing and centrist politicians, approved the bill on Wednesday this week. The parliamentary calendar has been rejigged to allow senators to debate the draft bill on 27 October.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has described the legislation as “absolutely essential” to ensure taxpayers are not repeatedly asked to foot the bill for damage caused during protests that turn violent.
If passed, those found responsible for vandalism could be required to pay up to €10,000 in compensation.
A particularly controversial provision would introduce collective civil liability, potentially allowing someone who belongs to a group responsible for damage to be ordered to pay even if they did not cause it themselves.
They could be required to compensate the state, victims or insurers, on the same financial terms as those who carried out the damage.
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The draft bill has drawn strong criticism from the left. Mathilde Panot, head of the hard-left France Unbowed group in the National Assembly, described it as “a weapon of mass repression against all demonstrations”.
Her colleague Clémence Guetté said it “establishes a presumption of guilt”, while a member of the French Greens party described it as "a gift to the National Rally".
The far-right National Rally (RN) proposed similar legislation in 2024, but it was rejected by both the left and the government.
“Anyone who destroys a town hall must know that they will pay for it for the rest of their life," said RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, welcoming the bill. "And in the case of minors, it will be their parents who pay."
However, legal experts have questioned whether collective liability would be compatible with constitutional principles, including individual responsibility and the presumption of innocence.
French law states that people can only be held criminally responsible for their own actions, while the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen enshrines the presumption of innocence.
There are also doubts about how the measure would work in practice.
“Determining that someone was indeed part of a group is already very difficult,” said Aurélien Martini, a deputy public prosecutor and representative of a leading magistrates’ union, adding that it would be particularly difficult to distinguish between masked demonstrators wearing black.
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Another challenge is ensuring that those ordered to pay compensation can afford it.
Martini cited the torching of Limoges town hall on 17 October, the cost of the damage to which is expected to run into millions. Even if the suspect is convicted, he questioned whether they would be able to pay such a sum.
The bill caps individual financial liability at €10,000, but also allows social benefits, including family allowances and housing benefit, to be seized if compensation is not paid.
Senators on the law committee adopted amendments on Wednesday expanding the range of benefits that could be impacted.
They also backed a measure allowing foreign nationals convicted of certain serious offences linked to urban violence to face an additional ban on remaining in France.
Further changes could be made when the bill reaches the Senate on 27 October. The upper house has shifted further to the right following September’s senatorial elections, which gave the RN a group in the Senate for the first time.