An order imposing a curfew on minors under the age of 13 comes into force on Wednesday May 1 in Nice, which follows the example of other municipalities having taken this type of measure in the name of the fight against delinquency. The decree applies in the city to minors under the age of 13, from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., “during the summer period and at all gathering points throughout the city,” said the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi (Horizons), in a press release.
“The fact that a child under 13 is at his parents’ house at night should not be the result of the will of a mayor. It should be the common sense of parents and the law. As common sense and parental responsibility are sometimes lacking and the law does not have the courage to take action, I take my responsibilities,” Mr. Estrosi explained last week when announcing the measure.
A curfew already in place from 2009 to 2020
This curfew “is more of a façade policy”, regretted the elected opposition member (Ecologist), Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, reproaching Mr. Estrosi for “the cutting of the school and housing budgets”. Such a curfew had already been instituted in Nice from 2009 but was abandoned during the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020. Not far away, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a curfew for minors under 13 has been in force since 2004. A ban which, according to the municipality, is “part of an overall policy” including other measures for young people.
The towns of Béziers (Hérault), led by Robert Ménard, close to the far right, and Pennes-Mirabeau (Bouches-du-Rhône) adopted a similar measure last week. A curfew for minors is also in force in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, for a renewable period of one month.
The theme of youth violence has recently emerged in the public debate in France following several news events, and the government is increasing its announcements of firmness on this theme a few weeks before the European elections.
