When it comes to fundamental rights, the internet has two faces. In a nutshell, this is what Jean-Marc Sauvé, vice-president of the French Conseil d’Etat (CE) – the highest legal adviser of the executive branch and Supreme Court for administrative justice in France – writes in the preface to the CE’s most recent report, Le numérique et les droits fondamentaux (“Digital affairs and fundamental rights”). The CE’s report, an imposing volume close to 500 pages in length, includes fifty proposals of measures that would contribute to the evolution of the French legal system into a more ‘digitally-suited’ direction. […]
The CE’s study, published in early September 2014, comes at a delicate time for debates related to digital matters in France where a new ‘anti-terrorism’ law is about to become reality. The project for a new ‘anti-terrorism’ law, championed by French Minister of Internal Affairs Bernard Cazeneuve, has now been passed on to the Senate. This follows its approval at the National Assembly, which happened amidst great controversy (and a critical recommendation from the Commission on Rights in the Digital Age or ComNum, of which I am a member). The government is also in the process of launching a wide-ranging consultation on the ‘big questions’ of our digital times; the consultation should result in a project of a ‘digital law’ (loi numérique) in early 2015. […]
http://policyreview.info/articles/news/french-council-state-more-digitally-suited-law/327