On the evening of Friday, 30 October, a judge gave the cost-of-living movement its biggest legal win so far. The government appealed within hours. To see why both sides cared so much about one march route, it helps to know some Paris geography, some protest history, and a little about how French courts protect the right to protest.
A judge, a route, and an appeal
Earlier on Friday, the police prefecture had banned the routes through central Paris filed by the CGT and the Yellow Vests for the "vie chère" march. Instead, it allowed them to march on the edge of the city, between Porte de Bagnolet and Porte de Charenton. That evening, after an appeal by the union alliance, the administrative court suspended the prefecture's order that had banned the Bastille–Nation route. UNEF's lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani, called it a "victory for the social movement and the students against the police prefecture".
Nuñez answered quickly. Speaking from Rouen, he said the Paris police prefect would appeal, citing "significant risks to public order". His reason was that the route had been banned because of damage done on 17 October. An appeal of this kind goes to the Conseil d'État, France's highest administrative court. A source close to the case told AFP the prefecture could take the case there.
This is a turnaround. On 24 October, the same kind of emergency hearing backed the prefecture. On 30 October, it did not. The procedure is the référé, a fast-track hearing in which a single judge weighs one question: is a ban truly needed and proportionate, or is it a serious and clearly illegal attack on a basic freedom? Banning an entire route is a heavy measure, and judges expect the authorities to show why lighter measures would not work.
The route matters for symbolic reasons too. The Bastille is where the Revolution began, and Bastille to Nation has been the classic left-wing march route for more than a century. Being pushed out to the outer boulevards near the ring road feels to the unions like being sent out of town. The prefecture sees it differently: the outer boulevards have fewer luxury shops to loot.
Why saucepans scare a parliament
The Yellow Vests had planned a warm-up on Friday evening. Their coordination called for a nationwide casserolade at 7 p.m. "in front of town halls, at windows, in the street, everywhere". In Paris it was meant to be outside the National Assembly. The authorities offered Place des Invalides instead, more than 500 metres from the original site. The organisers said no and called off the Paris event. "There will be no casserolade in Paris this Friday, there will be some in the provinces," said David Libeskind, the movement's lawyer.
The pot-banging is not a gimmick. It comes from the old charivari, when villagers banged pans outside the home of someone they wanted to shame. It came back in a big way in 2023, when ministers on tour were met with the noise of pans after the pension reform was pushed through without a vote. Making noise under the lawmakers' windows is the whole point, and that is why the prefecture moved it. The Yellow Vests' planned Bastille–Concorde route, ending opposite the Assembly, was also banned.
Halloween and masks
The government's worry about Halloween is not new. The interior ministry fears unrest at the Yellow Vests' march, but also on Halloween itself, which has served as a pretext for violence in recent years. Nuñez told prefects that the online calls to gather "leave no doubt about their authors' intentions".
Shopkeepers have a more practical fear: costumes. "Halloween is not helping matters, because we're going to have people wearing masks," said Alain Di Crescenzo of the chamber of commerce. Since a 2019 law aimed at rioters, covering your face at a protest has been a criminal offence in France. On Halloween night, police will find it hard to tell a vampire from a rioter.
Other cities are taking similar steps. In Grenoble, the prefect banned gatherings in parts of the city centre and in three shopping areas from 6 p.m. on 30 October to 6 a.m. on 1 November, as well as the sale and carrying of fireworks and the transport of fuel to take away. Fireworks and jerrycans are the basic kit of French urban riots.
On the evening of Friday, 30 October, a judge gave the cost-of-living movement its biggest legal win so far. The government appealed within hours. To see why both sides cared so much about one march route, it helps to know some Paris geography, some protest history, and a little about how French courts protect the right to protest.
A judge, a route, and an appeal
Earlier on Friday, the police prefecture had banned the routes through central Paris filed by the CGT and the Yellow Vests for the "vie chère" march. Instead, it allowed them to march on the edge of the city, between Porte de Bagnolet and Porte de Charenton. That evening, after an appeal by the union alliance, the administrative court suspended the prefecture's order that had banned the Bastille–Nation route. UNEF's lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani, called it a "victory for the social movement and the students against the police prefecture".
Nuñez answered quickly. Speaking from Rouen, he said the Paris police prefect would appeal, citing "significant risks to public order". His reason was that the route had been banned because of damage done on 17 October. An appeal of this kind goes to the Conseil d'État, France's highest administrative court. A source close to the case told AFP the prefecture could take the case there.
This is a turnaround. On 24 October, the same kind of emergency hearing backed the prefecture. On 30 October, it did not. The procedure is the référé, a fast-track hearing in which a single judge weighs one question: is a ban truly needed and proportionate, or is it a serious and clearly illegal attack on a basic freedom? Banning an entire route is a heavy measure, and judges expect the authorities to show why lighter measures would not work.
The route matters for symbolic reasons too. The Bastille is where the Revolution began, and Bastille to Nation has been the classic left-wing march route for more than a century. Being pushed out to the outer boulevards near the ring road feels to the unions like being sent out of town. The prefecture sees it differently: the outer boulevards have fewer luxury shops to loot.
Why saucepans scare a parliament
The Yellow Vests had planned a warm-up on Friday evening. Their coordination called for a nationwide casserolade at 7 p.m. "in front of town halls, at windows, in the street, everywhere". In Paris it was meant to be outside the National Assembly. The authorities offered Place des Invalides instead, more than 500 metres from the original site. The organisers said no and called off the Paris event. "There will be no casserolade in Paris this Friday, there will be some in the provinces," said David Libeskind, the movement's lawyer.
The pot-banging is not a gimmick. It comes from the old charivari, when villagers banged pans outside the home of someone they wanted to shame. It came back in a big way in 2023, when ministers on tour were met with the noise of pans after the pension reform was pushed through without a vote. Making noise under the lawmakers' windows is the whole point, and that is why the prefecture moved it. The Yellow Vests' planned Bastille–Concorde route, ending opposite the Assembly, was also banned.
Halloween and masks
The government's worry about Halloween is not new. The interior ministry fears unrest at the Yellow Vests' march, but also on Halloween itself, which has served as a pretext for violence in recent years. Nuñez told prefects that the online calls to gather "leave no doubt about their authors' intentions".
Shopkeepers have a more practical fear: costumes. "Halloween is not helping matters, because we're going to have people wearing masks," said Alain Di Crescenzo of the chamber of commerce. Since a 2019 law aimed at rioters, covering your face at a protest has been a criminal offence in France. On Halloween night, police will find it hard to tell a vampire from a rioter.
Other cities are taking similar steps. In Grenoble, the prefect banned gatherings in parts of the city centre and in three shopping areas from 6 p.m. on 30 October to 6 a.m. on 1 November, as well as the sale and carrying of fireworks and the transport of fuel to take away. Fireworks and jerrycans are the basic kit of French urban riots.
Sources