Par Thomas Bernard
Published on August 3, 23 at 11:26 updated on August 3, 23 at 12:01 See my news Follow Actu Nantes This Wednesday, August 2, 2023, the administrative court of Nantes suspended the prefectural decree authorizing the overflight of drones in Rezé (Loire-Atlantique), for a police operation fighting against urban rodeos. (©Adobe Stock/Illustration)
On July 21, 2023, the Loire-Atlantique prefecture took a stop authorizing the use of drones “to ensure the prevention of attacks on the safety of persons and property and the risks of intrusion and degradation of public buildings and installations” as part of an anti-urban rodeo police operation in the Château sector in Rezé, near Nantes (Loire-Atlantique). The decree provided for the overflight of these drones until Sunday August 6 inclusive.
A few days later, local residents in the area affected by the drone overflight seized the urgent applications judge of the administrative court of Nantes to request the suspension of the prefectural decree.
The applicants considered that the decree “infringes personal freedom, that of coming and going and the right to respect for private life”. A public hearing took place on Monday 31 July.
The administrative court of Nantes rendered its decision, this Wednesday, August 2, 2023. The judge in chambers orders the suspension of the prefectural decree dated July 21, 2023 for “capture, recording and transmission of images by means of cameras installed on aircraft”, in Rezé.
“Not sufficiently detailed”
Nantes news was able to consult the judgment rendered by the administrative tribunal. The Loire-Atlantique prefecture had justified this decree, because of the increase in the number of urban rodeos in Rezéan argument put forward “vaguely in the decree in question” according to the judge in chambers, which points to the lack of “quantified or statistical data” justifying the use of drones.
In addition, the judge in chambers considers that the elements produced by the administration “are not sufficiently detailed” to justify the means allocated for this operation.
Another issue raised during the investigation, the geographical delimitation of the overflight area of the drones. If the decree indicates that the supervised places “are strictly limited to the sector linked to the operation and its surroundings” and that the urban rodeos take place in the Château à Rezé sector, the map, produced in appendix of the decree of July 21, possibly covers the whole of the Rezéenne municipality.
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A coverage likely to concern many inhabitants, stakeholders in urban rodeos or not, who may be “the subject of contentious surveillance measures”. A measure that could impact “the right to respect for private life”.
Nothing, as has been said, allows us to understand why the service cannot use, for the exercise of this mission in this area and over the entire extent of its perimeter, other less intrusive means with regard to respect for privacy that the means usually implemented to fight against these “urban rodeos”, such as video surveillance cameras or that the use of these other means would be likely to lead to serious threats to the physical integrity of the officers .
Administrative Court of NantesIn a judgment of August 2, 2023
In addition to the suspension of the decree, the administrative court orders the State to pay 1 500 euros to local residents, for the costs incurred.
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