Overview
- The government’s package, presented Thursday in Bordeaux, sets Senate debate on Gérald Darmanin’s justice bill for April 13, sends the Ripost security bill to the Senate on May 18, and routes a municipal police bill to the National Assembly in May.
- Ripost targets day‑to‑day offenses such as urban rodeos, mortar‑style fireworks attacks, open drug use, and other incivilities, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez promising a show of authority and quicker results against crime.
- A separate bill would expand the powers of municipal police, who answer to mayors and often handle low‑level disorder, after the Senate’s approval and before a May examination in the lower house.
- Lawyers protested the justice text’s plan to introduce guilty pleas in criminal cases, warning about due‑process risks as the Senate begins its review on April 13.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned the Middle East conflict could raise the terror threat in France, framing the security push as urgent for protecting daily life.