French protests target bill granting police presumption of self-defence

September 22, 2026 at 08:01 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Thousands marched across France on Sunday against draft bill 691, which would grant police a presumption of self-defence when using firearms. The bill, approved by the National Assembly in July, now moves to the Senate. Protests drew 8,200 people in Lyon and Toulouse alone, with arrests and injuries reported in Rennes.

Key Facts

Draft bill 691 would grant armed police and gendarmes a presumption of self-defence when using firearms in the line of duty.
The National Assembly approved the bill in July, and a vote will now take place in the Senate.
Police said about 8,200 people demonstrated in Lyon and Toulouse alone.
In Rennes, officials said eight people were arrested and three police officers were injured when projectiles were thrown.
A petition against the bill gathered 730,000 signatures earlier in the year, but a parliamentary law committee dismissed it in July.

The Bill

Draft bill 691 aims to establish a presumption of legitimate self-defence or of legality for law enforcement officials when they use their firearms in the line of duty. The proposition would mean that officers who killed someone in a shooting incident would be presumed to have acted within the limits of the law, unless there was proof to the contrary. The text says the presumption of self-defence “may be rebutted if the judicial investigation demonstrates that the use of weapons was manifestly disproportionate or contrary to the principle of absolute necessity established by law”. Deputies in the National Assembly approved the bill in July. A vote on the proposed legislation will now take place in the Senate, the upper house of the French parliament.

The Protests

Thousands of people marched in France over the weekend against the proposed law. Police said about 8,200 people demonstrated in the southern French cities of Lyon and Toulouse alone. Protests were also held in Marseille, southern France, and Rennes, in the country’s northwest, where officials said eight people were arrested and three police officers were injured when projectiles were thrown at them. Left-wing politicians, rights groups including Amnesty International, France’s magistrates’ union and the country’s League of Human Rights also participated in the protests.

Petition and Opposition

A petition against the bill lodged by Issam El Khalfaoui, whose son was shot dead by a police officer in 2021, on the website of the National Assembly, gathered 730,000 signatures earlier in the year. A parliamentary law committee dismissed the petition in July. Critics say the new law will grant police officers a “licence to kill”, amid mounting allegations of police brutality in recent years, particularly against immigrant communities in the banlieues – outlying suburbs – of Paris and other major cities.