D4.1 Country Report | December 2021
Authors: Stephen W. Sawyer, Roman Zinigrad – The American University of Paris, Center for Critical Democracy Studies
The French report on the legal and policy framework of deradicalisation traces the main reforms introduced by the French government in response to the rise of political extremism, points to the shortcomings of their narrow focus on jihadist violence, and analyses their impact on the French constitutional structure, legislative framework, policymaking, and social fabric. It provides an overview of the socio-economic, political and cultural context of radicalisation in France; examines those elements in the constitutional structure of the French regime and caselaw of the French Constitutional Council that affect or are affected by deradicalisation efforts; and analyses French legislation in the fields of security, counterterrorism, surveillance technology, intelligence, radicalisation in prisons, administrative banning of violent groupings and organisations, restriction of religious freedoms, religiously motivated radicalisation, online hate speech and fake news. Finally, it offers a critical analysis of the national plans, government policies and institutional structure in the realm of deradicalisation and maps out the main programmes and instruments of deradicalisation employed by the French government and NGOs.