On Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies approved a strengthened version of the 2022 exclusion order (“place ban”) legislation. Under the new rules, individuals who engage in disruptive behaviour may be banned by the police from a specific public area for up to 15 days. Exceptions apply, for example, to people who live nearby or who need to access emergency medical care.
DP Member of Parliament Luc Emering welcomed the reform, recalling that both the police, local residents, and business owners have long called for such measures.
He argued that the issue concerns the fundamental challenge of striking the right balance between individual freedoms and the right of others to feel safe and move freely in public spaces. As a liberal party, the DP remains committed to protecting individual liberties. However, as Emering stressed, one person’s freedom ends where another person’s begins.
He further stated that when people’s quality of life is diminished, when they no longer feel safe, or when individuals are prevented from carrying out their work because of disruptive behaviour, it is the responsibility of politicians to act. According to Emering, this is precisely such a case. He said it was high time for the legal framework to reflect the realities on the ground and to give the police the means to act against individuals whose behaviour significantly affects the quality of life of the wider community. At the same time, he emphasised that the objective is not to punish people simply because they are living in poverty.
For that reason, the legislation should not be seen as a response to social hardship, but rather as a tool to address specific problematic behaviour by anyone in public spaces.
Measures to support people in need will continue alongside the reform. For the DP, it was equally important that the principles of the rule of law remain fully respected. The police will therefore not be able to issue an exclusion order immediately. Instead, the procedure follows a graduated approach: first, a formal warning (rappel à l’ordre), followed by an order to leave the area (injonction d’éloignement). Only in cases of repeated offences may an area exclusion order (interdiction de lieu) be imposed. Emering also underlined that this is not a criminal sanction but an administrative and preventive measure.
Finally, he noted that the effectiveness of the reform will depend on adequate police staffing and training, as well as continued social support services. The DP hopes that, together with a visible police presence on the ground, the reform will help restore people’s sense of safety in public spaces.
