According to the administrative court, the damage is “likely to engage the liability without fault of the State”, which had authorized the demonstration.
MO12345LEMONDE with AFP
The State must reimburse the costs caused by the degradations of “yellow vests” during a demonstration in early 2020, according to a decision of the administrative court which the France-Presse (AFP) agency was provided on Monday 9 January, Confirming Information of Progress .
On January 9, 2020, on the sidelines of a demonstration of “yellow vests” in Lyon against the pension reform, individuals had thrown paint and drain oil and painted many tags on the facades of Grand Hôtel-Dieu, famous historic building transformed into a luxury sales gallery in the city center.
Its real estate manager Scaprim, and several insurers, such as CHUBB European Group Limited, AXA France IARD, Allianz France, National Reinsurance Caisse, Mutual Agricultural Mutual Groupama and Helvetia Assurances, had then returned against the State, which had authorized the demonstration. But the prefect of the Rhône had rejected the compensation request.
In a decision dated December 16, 2022, the administrative court ordered the State to reimburse repairs and therefore to pay some 3,000 euros to the company SCAPRIM and around 17,000 euros to insurers.
Two similar decisions in 2022
During the hearing, which was held in early December, the Rhône prefecture argued in defense that the degradations had been perpetrated by “thugs present in the procession” adopting the methods of “black blocks”.
But, according to the court, “the report of the ordering operations” evokes the presence of “determined” and “at risk” individuals who were not “in total rupture with the demonstration”. “Under these conditions, the damage resulting from the actions of these demonstrators must be regarded as the fact of crimes committed during crowds or gatherings”, which are “likely to engage the liability without fault of the State on The basis of these same provisions, “concluded the court.
Contacted by AFP, the Rhône prefecture said that it had not yet made a decision on a possible call.
In May 2022, the State was ordered to pay just over 1.4 million euros to the City of Paris to compensate it for the damage caused during the demonstrations of the “yellow vests”. A month earlier, he had already been ordered to pay more than 1.2 million euros to the municipality and the metropolis of Toulouse for the same reasons.