France outlaws Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)

Two judgments of the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) of October 20 make France one of the few countries in the world, and the only democracy where the boycott call by movement associations or citizen to criticize the policy of a third State is prohibited.

 

On October 20th, France’s Supreme Court judged the call to boycott Israeli products illegal.  The Supreme court confirmed the condemnations by the Court of Appeal of Colmar (East of France) of 14 BDS militants who had called for boycott in Carrefour retailed hypermarket to pay 28 000 euros of damages and  a suspended fine of 1 000 euros each.  

 

The French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) considered boycott "a provocation to discrimination, or hatred or violence towards a person or a group of persons because of their origin or belonging to an ethnical group, a nation, a race or a determined religion” (article 24, §8, of the French Press law).

 

Only state boycotts, i.e. embargos are legal.

 

In their decision, the judges declared that freedom of expression can be under restrictions or sanctions as necessary measures in a democratic society to defend the order and protect the rights of the others.

 

The BDS lawyer said he is determined to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights, under article 10 of the European convention of human rights on freedom of expression.