It is only very recently, and it was about time, that the french administrative Supreme Court (le Conseil d’État) ruled on 27th November 2019 (N° 422516) that the referral to the administration by electronic means could not legally be made compulsory.
This decision concerned the challenge of the Prime Minister’s implicit decision which refused to amend the 27 May 2016 decree authorising teleservices for the implementation of the right of users to refer to the administration, particularly prefectures, by electronic means. This request was made by the CIMADE, the GISTI, the french League of Human Rights (Ligue des droits de l’Homme) and le Syndicat des avocats de France.
These organisations criticised the decree for violating the constitutional principles of equal access to the public service, continuity of the public service and equality before the law.
Although the administrative french Supreme Court admitted in this decision that referral to the administration by electronic means could not be legally compulsory, it nevertheless refused to annul the refusal to amend the 27 May 2016 decree.
While the french judge admit that foreign immigrants encounter difficulties in making appointments by electronic means in the prefectures, they consider that these difficulties do not stem from the disputed decree, but from the decisions making it compulsory to make appointments online in the prefectures.
While it is true that the annulment of the said decision followed by an injunction to the Prime Minister to provide for the optional nature of referral to the administration by electronic means would have been welcome in this case, it also appears that in this decision the french administrative Supreme Court implicitly invites users, and more particularly foreign immigrants, to challenge decisions making it compulsory to take appointments in the prefectures online.
If you encounter difficulties in making an appointment online and your prefecture requires you to make an appointement online, you can contact one of the lawyers in the TERRAVOCAT network to challenge the decision that impose to make appointments online before the judge.
Tnaks to the « Référé » (emergency procedure), and on presentation of screenshots of customers confirming the multiple attempts to make an online appointment (5 weeks twice a day), the Lawyers obtain from the judge an injunction made to the préfet to fix an appointment within 15 days to a month.
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