FOREIGN EXPULSION. Sunday July 24, Gérald Darmanin was the subject of strong criticism, announcing the expulsion of a foreigner arrested in Lyon in the case of the aggression of the police. But the man was eventually cleared. Did the Minister of the Interior exceed his prerogatives?
This is a new mess that has not failed to react and is the subject of many criticisms. Sunday July 24, 2022, Gérald Darmanin announces with great fanfare on social networks that a man, a foreigner, was arrested in Lyon following a violent attack on police officers in the Guillotière district. The arrested individual was then placed in detention and will be expelled “on my instruction” writes the Minister of the Interior. The boss of Beauvau clearly makes the link between the said person and the aggression of the police in the Rhône prefecture.
But, a little later in the day, the Lyon prosecutor’s office reversed the words of Gérald Darmanin, indicating that “the person placed in police custody (as part of this investigation, editor’s note) […] was released” and “that she was completely exonerated” on this file. Gérald Darmanin therefore wrote too quickly, even if his entourage confirmed the placement in detention of the man concerned because of a significant “Theft, violence, death threat against a person holding public authority, possession of drugs, violence in meetings… this individual has nothing to do in our country which is generous if we respect it”, s” is all the same justified the minister, arguing the obligation to leave the territory of which the 26-year-old man is the subject. without waiting for the results of the investigations” as stated by Eric Piolle, the EELV mayor of Grenoble? In terms of evictions, who has authority over what? Who decides and for what reasons? We take stock.
In connection with the events or not, known for numerous accusations: theft, violence, death threat against a person holding public authority, possession of drugs, violence in meetings, this individual has nothing to do in our country which is generous if we respect https://t.co/UMetCoe3zf
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) July 24, 2022
Who can decide on the expulsion of a foreigner?
In France, two authorities are competent to record the expulsion of a foreigner: the administrative authority (the State) and the judicial authority. The code for the entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum provides that “the administrative authority may decide to expel a foreigner when his presence in France constitutes a serious threat to public order.” Gérald Darmanin or the prefects can therefore record the dismissal of a person, with exceptions.
You should know that this type of decision is not made in haste. It is “framed and must be justified”, specifies Public service. Very often, it is the criminal record of the person in question that can motivate such a decision. In this case, the said person has been convicted several times. However, an expulsion can be decided even if no penal judgment was pronounced against the individual. But there is not a list of “criteria” which, if “fulfilled”, result in the expulsion of the person. “Representing a serious threat to public order” is the only framework – one could not be more extensive – which is enshrined in the law.
Moreover, justice can also pronounce such a sanction, even if the term is not the same. Indeed, a criminal judge can condemn a person to a ban on French territory in the context of an offense or a crime, as provided for in the same code for the entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum. . In other words, staying in France amounts to being an offense for the individual. Both the Ministry of the Interior and the courts can therefore order a person to leave French territory.
Who decided on the expulsion of the man implicated in Lyon?
Regarding the Lyon case, did Gérald Darmanin replace justice by announcing the expulsion of a man placed in police custody as part of the investigation linked to the assault on police officers? The answer to this question must be nuanced, because it covers several elements: the Minister of the Interior does not have to intervene in the judicial inquiry into the incidents in Lyon: it is the judges who decide. But the Minister of the Interior is fully entitled when he announces that the said person will be expelled under his authority (as explained above).
If Gérald Darmanin announced to expel the 26-year-old individual, it was not he who decided so in this case. Indeed, the man was the subject of an obligation to leave French territory for five months, a decision taken by the prefect that the Minister of the Interior undoubtedly discovered by looking into the file. Gérald Darmanin therefore only indicated that this decision would be well executed.