The 2001 About-Picard law bu pika:r officially Law No. 2001-504 of June 12, 2001, aimed at strengthening the prevention and repression of sectarian movements that undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms ( fr: loi n° 2001-504 du 12 juin 2001 tendant à renforcer la prévention et la répression des mouvements sectaires portant atteinte aux droits de l'homme et aux libertés fondamentales) is a controversial piece of French legislation, which broadly speaking, makes it possible to act against organisations when such organisations have become involved in certain crimes. The law is targeted at sects and movements deemed cultic (''mouvements sectaires'') that "undermine

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and

fundamental freedoms Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...

", as well as " mental manipulation". The law has caused controversy internationally, with some commentators alleging that it infringes on

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

while proponents contend that it reinforces religious freedom.

Background on government and religion in France

Freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

and

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

have formed part of the French idea of the state since at least the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and in some ways long before, since the 16th-century period of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and of the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. Separation of religion and state in France takes the form of ''

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...

'', by which political power avoids interference in the sphere of religious dogma, and religion avoids interference in public policies. The French understand "freedom of religion" primarily as the freedom of the individual to believe or not to believe what any religion teaches. Also, because of a long history of one single dominating church (the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

), the French state sees its duty less in protecting religion from state interference than in protecting the individual from interference by religion. In the wake of the

Order of the Solar Temple The Order of the Solar Temple (french: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS) and the International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition, or simply The Solar Temple, is a cult and religious sect that claims to be based upon the ideals of the ...

murders and suicides, the

French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...

established the

Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France The French National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of France, set up a Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France (french: Commission parlementaire sur les sectes en France) on 11 July 1995 following the events involving the members ...

to investigate cults. In December 1995 the Commission delivered a report on cults which caused much controversy, some of it due to a list extracted from a report by the

French National Police The National Police (french: Police nationale), formerly known as the , is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with prima ...

on purported cults. (The Commission assimilated information and analysis from the French police secret service, the Renseignements généraux.) Following the recommendations of the report, Prime Minister

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...

set up in 1996 the "Interministerial board of observation of sects", followed in 1998 by the "Interministerial Mission in the Fight Against Sects" ( MILS). In 2002 the "Interministerial Monitoring Mission Against Sectarian Abuses" ( MIVILUDES) replaced MILS. Other action of the French government against potential abuses by cults resulted in the passing of the About-Picard law.

The About-Picard law

Commentators often refer to the Law 2001-504 of June 12, 2001 as the About-Picard law, from the name of its ''

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

s'' (parliamentarians who report upon the draft law), senator

Nicolas About Nicolas About (born 14 July 1947) is a French politician and anti-cultist from the centrist MoDem. He was a member of the French Senate and President of the Centrist Union group. About was the mayor of Montigny-le-Bretonneux from 1977 to 2004. ...

( UDF center-right party) and deputy

Catherine Picard Catherine Picard (born 14 August 1952) is a French politician and anti-cultist from the French Socialist Party. She was a member of the French National Assembly from 1997 to 2002. Career Picard was elected on 1 June 1997 for the French Sociali ...

( PS center-left party). The French parliament adopted the law with broad cross-party support under the government of center-right president Jacques Chirac and socialist prime minister

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

. Article 223-15-2 of Penal code:
(Act no. 2001-504 of June 12, 2001, article 10 Official Journal of June 13, 2001 ; Ordinance No. 2000-916 of September 19, 2000, article 3 Official Journal of September 22, 2000, into force January 1, 2002) « Fraudulently abusing the ignorance or state of weakness of a minor, or of a person whose particular vulnerability, due to age, sickness, infirmity, to a physical or psychological disability or to pregnancy, is apparent or known to the offender, or abusing a person in a state of physical or psychological dependency resulting from serious or repeated pressure or from techniques used to affect his judgement, in order to induce the minor or other person to act or abstain from acting in any way seriously harmful to him, is punished by three years' imprisonment and a fine of €375,000. Where the offence is committed by the legal or de facto manager of a group that carries out activities the aim or effect of which is to create, maintain or exploit the psychological or physical dependency of those who participate in them, the penalty is increased to five years' imprisonment and to a fine of €750,000. » The additional penalties that natural or legal persons may incur are mentioned in the following articles 223-15-3 and 4.

Main points

Notable new points introduced by the law include: * In the case of certain crimes, the law extends legal responsibility from individuals to organizations (corporations, associations, and other

legal entities In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

...). * Courts can order the dissolution of organizations if they or their executives have been found guilty of these crimes. The initial draft of the About-Picard law included the criminalization of "mental manipulation". Many organizations criticised this clause for its vagueness.

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Élisabeth Guigou pushed for the removal of this clause, which the legislators excluded from the final version of the law. However, the law makes it a crime to defraud a person weakened by illness, old age, etc., but also of a person in a state of ''psychological or physical subjection resulting from grave or reiterated pressures or techniques able to alter judgement''.

Application of the law

There was one famous application of the law since its adoption: that of Arnaud Mussy, leader of the tiny ''Néo-Phare'' (New Lighthouse) cult. Mussy, who claims that he is the

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, had announced imminent apocalypse, resulting in the suicide of one of his followers and the attempted suicides of two others, who were severely wounded in 2001. The criminal court in Nantes sentenced him to three years in prison and 90,000 FF damages in November 2004. It ruled that he had "abused fraudulently the state of ignorance and weakness of several persons in the state of bodily or mental dependence". A higher court in Rennes confirmed the sentence in July 2005.

Criticism of the Law

:''See Status of religious freedom in France for expressed concerns about other aspects of French policies with respect to minority religions.'' The French government, when challenged on issues of religious discrimination, states that it has no concern in any way with religious doctrine ''per se''. The government has taken the position that it will deal with the concrete consequences of cult affiliation, especially with respect to children. The government sees this as particularly important in the light of past abuse committed in some criminal cults, such as sexual slavery and

mass suicide Mass suicide is a form of suicide, occurring when a group of people simultaneously kill themselves. Overview Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious settings. In war, defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Su ...

. According to government sources, none of the criteria listed in related government documents on sects discuss

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

; they only focus on the actions and the methods of the groups. Critics of the law see this as merely a semantic change and maintain that no empirical studies support claims of the use of techniques of coercive persuasion by NRMs.

Reactions inside France

The Bishop of Soissons, Marcel Herriot, defended the law on June 25, 2000, asserting it was necessary to protect by law persons, family, society and religions themselves from sects that are violating fundamental freedoms and human dignity. Some groups claim that the Parliamentary Reports and the controversy surrounding the About-Picard law have created an unhealthy atmosphere, resulting in minority religious groups suffering from excessively strict, uneven, or even abusive discrimination in the application of other laws by local authorities. For example, the group ''Coordination des Associations et Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience'' (Co-ordination of Associations and Individuals for Freedom of Conscience) requested the repeal of the law, asserting laws should not specify groups as "sectarian" or "cultic" as, in a democracy. However, an

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

report has described this group as a partisan The umbrella association of French Jehovah's Witnesses sued the French government in the ECHR in case #53430/99, alleging that the publication of the parliamentary reports and the enactment of the About-Picard law infringed its civil rights. The court rejected the application. In other cases (#53934/00), the Court affirmed that the publication of a Parliamentary Report disparaging to some groups did not constitute an infringement of human rights, even though these groups were not given a

legal recourse A legal recourse is an action that can be taken by an individual or a corporation to attempt to remedy a legal difficulty. * A lawsuit if the issue is a matter of civil law * Contracts that require mediation or arbitration before a dispute can go ...

for the removal of their name from the report. Human rights activists dubbed the law "un délit d'opinion" (a thought crime).

Statements by the Council of Europe

Forty different religious and human-rights groups submitted a petition to the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. This petition led to a report (Report 9612 of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of Europe) containing an expert paper by Swiss professor Joseph Voyame, who concluded: :''"On the basis of the foregoing, I conclude that the French Law of 12 June 2001 is not incompatible with the Council of Europe’s values."'' Voyame deduces that the law clearly responds to a need, that the measure of dissolution appears radical, but also effective and reliable, and that judicial guarantees surround it. He also discusses the title with its mentioning of "cultic groups", but comes to the conclusion that the uncertainty regarding the definition has little importance:

The title is undeniably part of the ct but has no legislative authority in itself. Although it may be useful for the purposes of interpretation, it cannot be used in making a ruling that runs counter to a clear legal provision ... . As we will see, ections1, 19 and 20 of this ctidentify the targeted incorporated organizations and groups with the greatest possible precision. It is these standard-setting texts that are decisive.

The report discussed several objections regarding the word "secte" (cult):

... the word ‘sect’ has taken on an extremely pejorative connotation. In the eyes of the public, it stigmatises movements whose activities are dangerous either for their members or for society. Today, the world contains dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of groups both large and small, all with various beliefs and observances, which are not necessarily dangerous or prejudicial to freedom. It is true that among these groups are some which have committed criminal acts. Nevertheless, the existence of a few dangerous movements is not enough to condemn all the rest (...)

The report concluded:

The act for the most part simply reiterates existing provisions in the Criminal Code, the Code of Consumption, the Code of Public Health and the New Code of Civil Procedure and does so for a precise purpose in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights, as we have just seen. Consequently, even if it had been possible to achieve the same objective by recourse to existing provisions, there is nothing to prevent the passing of an act which has the advantage of grouping together all the provisions necessary to achieve that objective.

In November 2002, the Council of Europe passed a resolution inviting the Government of France to reconsider the About-Picard Law and to clarify certain terms in the law. It referred, however, to the Recommendation 1412 (1999) on the illegal activities of sects, where it had concluded that it was ''"essential to ensure that the activities of groups, whatever religious, esoteric or spiritual description they adopted, were in keeping with the principles of democratic societies and, in particular, the provisions of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)."'' and it stated that ''"ultimately, should the case arise, it will be for the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

, and it alone, to say whether or not this law is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights."'' .

Reactions outside of France

In an open letter dated June 2000 to Alain Vivien about religious freedom in France,

Aaron Rhodes Aaron Anthony Rhodes (born 1949) is an international human rights activist and writer. He is a senior fellow at Common Sense Society and President of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe, an independent nongovernmental organization. Rhodes served ...

, Executive Director of the

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) was a self-governing group of non-governmental organizations that acted to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America and Central Asia. A specific primary goal was to monitor ...

(IHFHR), wrote:

We question ourselves how such a law can claim to guarantee human rights when it goes against the rights of association, expression, religion and conscience; when it puts in danger the right of minorities and maintains prejudices that are so incompatible with the concept of tolerance intrinsic to that of human rights. France must deal with its responsibilities and obligations as a signatory for the International Conventions and respect the European laws and its interpretation by the Court of Strasbourg, before one of its citizens become a victim of discrimination due to the law which you propose.

Alain Vivien responded: " he IHFHRseems today to have passed into the hands of

Scientologists Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

and perhaps other transnational organizations".

then acknowledged that the Moscow office of the IHFHR had received funding from the Church of Scientology to print a leaflet about religious freedom in Russia, and voiced his astonishment at the charge. Rhodes voiced his embarrassment: " ..or you and your fellow French citizens by your recourse to methods of denunciations and insinuations that remind us of those sometimes used by totalitarian and backward regimes."

Reaction of the government of the United States of America

Some groups sought the help of their governments to fight what they saw as religious intolerance in France. In the United States, the Church of Scientology utilised pressure groups against the French government, and had some success with the Clinton administration, which repeatedly brought the matter before the French government. According to pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont, head of the French Protestant federation and himself a strong critic of the first draft of the law, the complaints originating in the United States concerning religious freedom in France were largely based on biased, poor information. According to a newspaper article published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in June 2000, the French government considered American interference regarding religious freedom in France as unwarranted meddling by the US government in France's internal affairs. Paul Webster wrote that President Jacques Chirac told Clinton that religious freedom would no longer be a subject for bilateral presidential talks, "in the light of what has been officially described as 'shocking' White House support for

and

Moonies The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or " Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Sp ...

". The French government also described the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

's introduction of laws protecting religious freedom internationally as "an unacceptable intrusion into internal affairs".

Alain Vivien Alain Vivien (born August 20, 1938) is a French Socialist Party (PS) politician, best known for chairing (1998–2002) the French '' Mission Interministérielle pour la Lutte contre les Sectes'', MILS, a ministerial organization designed to obser ...

, former chairman of the French ministerial mission to combat the influence of cults (MILS), and the president of the ''Centre Contre les Manipulations Mentales'' (Centre Against Mental Manipulation), said many observers believed that Clinton was making his peace with big religious movements, "because they offer an indispensable source of political financing", and that with the help of Scientologists, cults were infiltrating UN and European human rights associations and collaborating on virulent reports against France's policies. The French did not alter their law following these requests; and the claims and actions of the US government regarding the religious situation in France largely ceased with the Bush administration. Some critics of French legislation have voiced concerns that countries which do not have the same legal safeguards and constitutional rights as France may emulate this legislation. In the words of a US official:

Yet the law itself remains problematic not only because of the threat the language carries in France, but because it is even now being considered for emulation by countries that lack France’s commitment to rule of law and human rights. Such a model serves only too well as cover for those nations who persecute under the guise of law enforcement.

On September 15, 2006, the United States

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs (DRL) is a bureau within the United States Department of State. The bureau is under the purview of the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. DRL's res ...

released a report on religious freedom in France. This report noted that "The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice." It reported mostly anonymous concerns over repression of religious freedom in France, notably in regards to what the report referred to in one case as "cult groups", as well as the law banning religious symbols in schools, and rising anti-semitism in France.

Footnotes

References and further reading

Official French government publications

* French Parliamentary Commission of investigation of Cults activities (1995) * Jean-Louis Langlais (MIVILUDES), ''Les dérives sectaires, année 2004 : rapport au Premier ministre'', 2005
pagePDF

RTF
* Jean-Louis Langlais (MIVILUDES), ''Les dérives sectaires, année 2003 : rapport au Premier ministre'', 2004
pagePDF
* ''Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les sectes : rapport 2001'', 2002
pagePDFRTF
* Jacques Guyard,

Jean-Pierre Brard Jean-Pierre Brard, (born 7 February 1948), is a French politician. Initially a teacher, he entered politics and was elected was deputy mayor of Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, a post he held until 1984 when he was elected mayor of the same city. ...

, ''Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d'enquête sur la situation financière, patrimoniale et fiscale des sectes, ainsi que sur leurs activités économiques et leurs relations avec les milieux économiques et financiers'', French National Assembly
page
* '' Conseil d'État'', ''Rapport public 2004. Jurisprudence et avis de 2003. Un siècle de laïcité''
PDF

Opinions

* Baker, Eileen, ''Religious Movements: Cult and Anticult Since Jonestown'', Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 12: pp. 329–346, 1986 * Introvigne, Massimo and Richardson, James T., "Western Europe, Postmodernity, and the Shadow of the French Revolution: A Response to Soper and Robbins", Symposium on Government Policy Toward Unconventional Religions in Europe, ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'', Vol. 40 I.2 p. 181, June 2001 * Introvigne, Massimo. & Richardson, James T., ''"Brainwashing" Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on "Cults" and "Sects'', Symposium on Government Policy Toward Unconventional Religions in Europe, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 40 I.2 p. 43, June 2001 * Palmer, Susan J. ''The secte Response to Religious Discrimination: Subversives, Martyrs, or Freedom Fighters in the French Sect Wars?'', article published in the book edited by Phillip Charles Lucas and Thomas Robbins: ''New Religious Movements in the 21st Century'' published by Routledge (2004) * Wybraniec, John & Finke Roger, ''Religious Regulation and the Courts: The Judiciary's Changing Role in Protecting Minority Religions from Majoritarian Rule'', ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'', Vol.40 I.3 p. 427, September 2001
Bruno Fouchereau: ''Secular society at stake. Europe resists American cults'' (Monde diplomatique, June 2001)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050829002758/http://www.brookings.edu/fp/cuse/analysis/relfreedom.htm Dominique Decherf: French Views of Religious Freedom
Stephen A. Kent: The French and German versus American Debate Over New Religions, Scientology, and Human Rights

Robert Jacques: Religious liberty and French secularism

Official French legal texts

''All texts in French.''
Law 2001-504 of June 12, 2001unofficial translation into English

(updated version)

(updated version)
Penal code
(legislation part; updated version)

Official French government sites and reports

''All texts in French.''
MIVILUDES

Gent-Guyard Report 1995 (French)

Guyard Report 1999, Cults and money

The 2003 report of the French Mission on Cultic Deviances MIVILUDESunofficial translation

Council of Europe

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051029012222/http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=http%3A%2F%2Fassembly.coe.int%2FDocuments%2FAdoptedText%2Fta99%2FEREC1412.htm Council of Europe: Recommendation 1412 (1999) Illegal activities of sects]
Doc. 9612 Freedom of religion and religious minorities in France

Critique

France and Religious Intolerance
Index of documents at the

Discussion of MIVILUDES
(bulletin of the French Protestant Federation)

(bulletin of the French Protestant Federation)
Discussion of the About-Picard law
(French League of Human Rights)

by the ''Coordination des Associations & Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience''

by Joava Good, President of the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance.
Church Of Scientology Humans Rights office in France
''Christian Today'', February 9, 2005

by Prof. Susan Palmer (Dawson College and Concordia University) (contains criticism of nonexistent dispositions of the law)
The "Viviengate"
— a criticism of Alain Vivien's action (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:About-Picard Law Law of France 2001 in law Law about religion in France 2001 in France Freedom of religion Government opposition to new religious movements Political repression in France