French Senate Passes 'Rioters Pay' Bill to Bill Protesters for Unrest Damage
France's Senate passed the so-called "casseurs-payeurs" bill in the early hours of 28 October, expanding it beyond its original scope. According to Le Monde and Le Figaro, the vote was 229 in favour to 105 against, carried by a right-wing and centrist alliance with support from the Rassemblement national and over strong left-wing opposition. The bill, formally about compensation for damage from violence and vandalism in public spaces, now heads to the politically divided National Assembly for debate and a vote.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez welcomed the vote, arguing that law-abiding citizens should not keep paying for a minority of vandals. As reported by RFI, the government frames the bill as a civil-compensation tool: looted shops and torched public buildings, such as the Limoges town hall set on fire on 17 October, often leave victims with no one able to pay. Criminal convictions alone rarely cover the losses, so the bill creates a faster route to make participants in violent gatherings pay damages.
According to Euronews, the bill was first introduced after riots that followed Paris Saint-Germain's victory over Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final in May. It gained new urgency after weeks of protests over inequality and soaring prices culminated on 17 October in some of the worst violence France has seen in years, when France 24 reported that thousands of businesses across the country were damaged and looted.
The core of the bill is joint financial liability. According to CNBC and France 24, a protester could be ordered to pay up to 10,000 euros (about $11,140) toward damage from crimes committed by force or violence, even for harm they did not personally cause, if they knowingly took part in a group formed to carry out vandalism or if they voluntarily stayed in a gathering likely to disturb public order after two police warnings. Critics say this means people who never broke anything could still be held liable through association.
The Senate version is tougher than the original. According to Euronews and Amnesty International USA, welfare benefits, including family allowances and housing assistance, could be seized if compensation goes unpaid, and parents could face civil liability over acts linked to their children. Senators also approved a separate measure requiring platforms to remove social media content calling for insurrection or taking up arms against the state within 24 hours, or face blocking or delisting, as reported by France 24. The interior minister said calls for insurrection aimed at the coming Saturday were exactly the kind of content targeted.
Left-wing lawmakers and rights advocates call the bill collective punishment. A Reuters report carried by U.S. News quoted rights groups and lawyers describing the proposal as anti-democratic and a threat to the basic democratic right to protest. Amnesty International warned it could push already marginalised families further into poverty and hold individuals liable for acts they did not commit. The left argues several provisions are unconstitutional and endanger the freedom to demonstrate; supporters reply that peaceful demonstrators have nothing to fear and only violent participants will pay.
The bill now faces the National Assembly, where no camp holds a clear majority and debate promises to be heated, with amendments or delays likely. A constitutional review may follow if opponents challenge the liability and benefits-seizure provisions. Meanwhile the government is bracing for fresh weekend demonstrations while trying to show shopkeepers and local authorities that the compensation mechanism can actually deliver money to victims.