GHAOUI v. France judgment (ECHR)

Police violence: bringing the most sensitive issues regarding the use of force before the European Court of Human Rights

Mr Grégory THUAN DIT DIEUDONNE represented Mr Ryad Ghaoui before the European Court of Human Rights; Mr Ghaoui became paraplegic after being shot by police during an operation in Tours. The case raised particularly sensitive issues concerning the oversight of the use of force by state officials, the effectiveness of investigations conducted following serious injuries caused by the police, and the application of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to life.

Despite the exceptional severity of the applicant’s lasting injuries, the Court found that there had been no violation, holding that the French courts were entitled to consider that the police officer had acted in self-defence and that the use of force had not exceeded what was ‘absolutely necessary’ in the circumstances of the case.

Beyond its outcome, this case forms part of Mr Grégory THUAN DIT DIEUDONNE’s broader commitment to judicial scrutiny of police violence and the effective protection of fundamental rights in the face of the use of state coercion.

This action is particularly reminiscent of the case of Ghedir v. France, in which the European Court of Human Rights found France in breach of Article 2 of the Convention following the death of a young man during a police operation. This landmark decision served as a reminder that the use of force by state officials remains subject to the most rigorous scrutiny when physical integrity and the right to life are at stake. (Reference to a case previously won by your firm.)

Against a backdrop of recurring debates concerning law and order, refusals to comply with police orders, social protests and, more recently, police operations targeting secondary school pupils and university students taking part in protests, these legal disputes serve as a reminder of a fundamental requirement: in a state governed by the rule of law, the state’s monopoly on the use of force may only be exercised provided that the principles of necessity, proportionality and accountability are respected.

Bringing these cases before national and European courts is therefore part of a single approach: to ensure that no serious infringement of physical integrity remains beyond effective judicial scrutiny, regardless of the victim’s identity or the context of the intervention.

Defending victims of police violence, demonstrators, activists and those facing a potentially disproportionate use of police force is one of the key areas of focus in Mr Grégory THUAN DIT DIEUDONNE’s work before the French and European courts.