Controversial immigration court opens at Paris airport
Source: France24
A controversial new immigration court near Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport opened Monday despite opposition by lawyers and human rights groups. Critics say they will continue to oppose the new court.
After a high-profile campaign to try to block a controversial immigration court near Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, the court’s first session opened on Monday to a somewhat surreal scene.
‘The new place is very intimidating’
Critics of the new court – situated next to a detention center in the village of Mesnil Amelot, a few hundred meters from one of the CDG airport runways – have argued that the court’s location hinders the legal process and contravenes the foundations of France’s judicial system.
“It’s like judging a defendant in prison or in a prison annex,” said Sylvain Saligari, an immigration lawyer, noting that the court is situated in a highly secured zone that is “absolutely not conducive to ensuring the impartiality and serenity of the debate. This is disastrous in terms of image and symbolism, which is of paramount importance if justice must be seen to be served.”
Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20131015-france-paris-airport-immigration-court-opposition-lawyers-rights
Unhappily, immigration is just as hot-button an issue in the EU as in the US. With the inexorable rise of the far right (Front National) in France, things can only get worse, at least in the medium term.
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