The Constitutional Council validates the prefectural power to “evacuate” squatters

The Constitutional Council validated, Friday, March 24, the power given to the prefects to evacuate by force, without going through a judge, an illegally squatted dwelling. The 2007 law, amended in 2020, which authorizes such a procedure therefore does not infringe respect for private life, nor the inviolability of the home, nor the right to an effective remedy since the evacuation decision can be challenged. in summary proceedings before the administrative justice, estimated the Elders. They therefore rejected a “priority question of constitutionality” (QPC) on this subject.

The Constitutional Council, however, accompanied its decision with a “reserve of interpretation”. The law, he points out, does not authorize the prefect to order the expulsion “without taking into account the personal or family situation of the occupant whose evacuation is requested”.

The Elders were asked to rule on this issue at the request of the lawyer for a woman who had been deported on the basis of the disputed provision. Associations such as the Right to Housing (DAL), the Abbé Pierre Foundation or the Secours Catholique had supported her in her approach. There “reserve” introduced by the Sages, “it’s better than nothing”, commented to AFP Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, the spokesperson for the DAL. But the overall rejection of the QPC is all the more disappointing as we are currently seeing a “hardening” in the fight against squatters, noted Jean-Baptiste Eyraud.