French President Francois Hollande's cabinet declared a nationwide state of emergency after Friday's terror attacks in Paris. But what is the etat d'urgence and what powers does it give to the French state?
- A state of emergency is declared by decree by the cabinet for a maximum of 12 days, after which it requires the passage of a law to extend it. The French government will submit a three-month extension for parliament's approval on Wednesday.
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The state of emergency gives prefects of French departments and the national government the power to:
- Prohibit people and vehicles from moving in areas and at times fixed by decree. French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem has said that trips organised by French schools will be cancelled until November 22, as well as any school activities that require the use of public transport.
- Set curfews and forbid mass assemblies;
- Establish "secure zones" where people can be monitored;
- Close public spaces where people meet such as theatres, bars and museums;
- Take "all measures to ensure control of the press . . . as well as radio broadcasts, film screenings and theatre performances"
The law also allows security services and police to:
- Conduct house searches at any time without judicial oversight;
- Enforce house arrest;
- Confiscate weapons, even if people own them legally.
The law governing states of emergency was passed in April 1955 in response to the crisis in Algeria, which at that time was ruled by France but which was fighting for its independence. The state of emergency was extended by law for another six months in August 1955. Since then it has been applied only four more times:
- In 1958, when the French government, facing a coup over its handling of the Algerian war, decided to call on retired general Charles de Gaulle to take the presidency, which resulted in the end of France's Fourth Republic, the promulgation of a new national constitution and the birth of today's Fifth Republic with an executive presidency.
- In 1961, when four retired generals opposed to Algerian independence tried and failed to instigate a coup against De Gaulle himself, starting with a move to seize major cities in Algeria.
- In December 1984, French prime minister Laurent Fabius - who is now the country's foreign minister - gave the high commissioner of New Caledonia the emergency powers of a French prefect until June 1985, after an uprising by indigenous New Caledonians demanding independence from France.
- In November 2005, during massive youth riots in the Paris suburbs that followed the deaths of two youths who fled from police.
Fairfax Media, agencies
