Two departments in two days: after Yvelines, Paris. You are therefore no longer obliged to wear it outside in the capital. The administrative court of Paris suspended on Thursday January 13 the prefectural decree which made it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in the streets of Paris since December 31.
Why was the decree suspended?
The Paris administrative court, which suspended the prefectural decree on Thursday, considers in particular, in its order published this Friday and consulted by franceinfo, that the measure “does not meet the requirements of strict proportion to the health risks incurred“.
This decision of the Paris police headquarters is not balanced, according to the judge in summary proceedings: “In view of the physical and respiratory constraints of wearing a systematic mask outdoors“, but also the risk of a fine and “barriers in communication and social life“, the Paris administrative court thus considered that the urgency to suspend the decree was “characterized“.
Direct consequence: you can no longer be fined 135 euros if you do not wear a mask in the streets of the capital, or even 1500 euros in the event of a repeat offense.
Who attacked this order?
A lawyer, Jean-Baptiste Soufron, and three law professors won their case. They say they attacked the decree of the Paris police headquarters as “simple citizens“.
According to these four applicants, wearing a mask is compulsory in exterior throughout Paris, since last December 31, is “completely general to wear a mask throughout the Parisian territory, including at times when the streets are empty and at times when there is no one, was manifestly disproportionate and could not be taken in this way.
Jean-Baptiste Soufron evokes a measure “inefficient too broad and infringing on individual freedoms“Faced with the outbreak of cases, it was necessary, according to him, to adapt this decree to the busiest places in Paris, but not to generalize it to the whole capital. The lawyer saw it as political “communication” of the government and said welcome the decision taken by the Administrative Court of Paris.
Towards new suspensions?
While he tried to explain his order, stating that “the epidemic situation in Ile-de-France continues to deteriorate sharply and rapidly“, than “wearing a mask has shown its effectiveness“, or even that”it does not affect the freedom to come and go“, the prefect of police of Paris must therefore modify his decree if he wishes to impose the wearing of a mask outdoors again in the capital.
More broadly, on Tuesday, the Council of State indicated that the prefects could only impose the wearing of a mask outdoors under certain conditions: that is to say “by limiting the obligation to places and times of high population traffic…“
The two court decisions taken on Wednesday in Yvelines and Thursday in Paris risk setting a precedent and leading to many other similar decisions across France. Wearing a mask had thus (re)become compulsory in many large cities since the end of 2021 until the last few days, even in entire departments such as Sarthe or Isère.