France's Senate votes on controversial police self-defense law amid protests

Issam El Khalfaoui, whose 16‑year‑old son Souhail was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in Marseille in 2021, has ignited a national debate as France’s Senate prepares to vote on a draft law that would automatically presume police self‑defence when firearms are used on duty. The measure, approved by the National Assembly in July, would shift the burden of proof to complainants and has been described by critics as a “licence to kill.”

France’s police have already been under fire for a high rate of fatal shootings, with 69 people killed by officers in 2024, up from 49 in 2023 and 50 in 2022. The controversy was heightened by clashes in education protests earlier this year, where a 15‑year‑old lost a hand to a stun grenade and a 14‑year‑old suffered a shattered jaw from a tear‑gas canister. The use of stun grenades was halted after the incidents, and police injuries were reported at around 700. In response, more than 700,000 people signed El Khalfaoui’s petition, and protests in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse drew nearly 50,000 on September 20.

Under the proposed law, police and gendarmes would be presumed to act in self‑defence if they used weapons while on duty, leaving the complainant to prove otherwise. El Khalfaoui, who co‑founded the advocacy group Stop State Violence (SAVE) after his son’s death, warned that the bill would entrench a culture of impunity and reinforce the power of police unions. “There has been a seizure of power by police unions,” he said, adding that the police are militarised to ensure loyalty to the government. In contrast, a regional police union representative claimed Souhail’s death was “self‑defence beyond any doubt” and that the boy had wanted to start a fight. The judicial case, closed in December 2021, was reopened in 2025 when a new judge took over the investigation after surveillance footage disappeared and the court file was lost. The Senate vote, set for later this week, will decide whether France moves forward with a legal framework that many fear will make it harder to hold officers accountable.