GENEVA - A UN expert* today urged France to reject a bill that would presume police officers and gendarmes who use firearms acted within the law and acted out of necessity and in proportion with the threat, unless evidence proves otherwise.
Draft bill 691 is due to return to the National Assembly for further consideration on 7 July 2026.
"Every potentially unlawful death involving law enforcement officials must be investigated through a prompt, thorough, effective, independent, impartial and transparent investigation," said Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
"The duty to investigate every potentially unlawful killing rests with the State," he said. "It cannot be displaced, in law or in practice, by requiring victims or their families to rebut a legal presumption that the use of potentially lethal force was lawful before the facts have been independently established."
The expert warned that the proposed presumption could affect the initiation, scope and conduct of investigations by encouraging investigating authorities to proceed on the assumption that the use of firearms was lawful before all relevant facts and evidence have been independently established.
"The obligation to investigate potentially unlawful deprivations of life is an essential component of the protection of the right to life under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Failure to discharge that obligation may itself constitute a separate violation of the right to life," Tidball-Binz said.
He stressed that by influencing how investigations are initiated and conducted, the proposed presumption could weaken the active search for evidence, hinder the establishment of the truth and responsibility, and increase the risk that arbitrary deprivations of life remain without accountability.
"Establishing a legal presumption of lawfulness before the circumstances of a fatal shooting have been independently examined risks lowering, in practice, the threshold of restraint expected from law enforcement officials in the use of potentially lethal force," the Special Rapporteur said. Such a measure could also undermine public confidence in the ability of the authorities to investigate deaths involving State agents impartially and effectively.
He also expressed concern about the removal of the requirement for officers to wear a uniform or visible insignia in certain circumstances. Unless accompanied by effective legal safeguards ensuring the identification of every officer and the traceability of every intervention involving the use of force, this amendment could hinder investigations and compromise the establishment of responsibility.
Tidball-Binz called on French authorities to withdraw or fundamentally revise the amendment and to conduct an independent human rights impact assessment before its adoption.
"Protecting law enforcement officials and addressing operational challenges are legitimate objectives. But they cannot justify measures that weaken the State's obligations under international human rights law to protect the right to life, thoroughly investigate every potentially unlawful killing, and ensure accountability where violations occur," the expert said.
The Special Rapporteur is in contact with the Government of France about the compatibility of the proposed legislation with France's international human rights obligations.
