Created by the State of Health Emergency Law, this offense provides that a person fined more than three times for violating the lockdown within 30 days is punishable by six months' imprisonment and €3,750 of fine. This offense was validated by the Constitutional Council on June 26, 2020 in the context of 3 priority constitutionality issues (QPC).
On 14 May, the Court of Cassation had referred this offense to the Constitutional Council, which could undermine the principle of legality of offenses and penalties and the principle of the presumption of innocence.
In its decision of 26 June, the Constitutional Council stated that:
neither the concept of enforcement (the drawing up of a report of an infringement) nor the reference
travel strictly necessary for family and health needs
are of an imprecise or ambiguous nature. The legislator did not adopt imprecise provisions since it took the fact that the person had been previously fined as a constituent element of the offense
more than three times
. In particular, these provisions do not allow the same exit, which constitutes a single violation of the exit ban, to be declared several times;
the provisions do not establish any presumption of guilt, since the correctional court seised in immediate court assesses the constituent elements of the offense and in particular the regularity and validity of previous verdicts.
FYI
The constitutional priority question (QPC) allows any citizen to challenge the constitutionality of a legislative provision that is opposed to him in a proceeding, when he considers that a text infringes the rights and freedoms that the Constitution guarantees.
