the closure of a micro-crèche welcoming 12 children confirmed by the court

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The summary judge of the administrative court of Melun (Seine-et-Marne) rejected the request which had been filed under extreme urgency by the association “Les P’tits Pieds du 77” to suspend the one-month administrative closure to which its micro-crèche of Bernay-Vilbert, near Fontenay-Trésigny. The “temporary closure” of “P’tites Frimousses”, located 12, route de Vilbert, had in fact been decided by the Department of Seine-et-Marne on August 16, 2024following an “unannounced inspection” of its Maternal and Child Protection (PMI) services on July 8, 2024 and the “injunctions” which had been made to it. It therefore had the consequence of “ deprive twelve children » of childcare arrangements when their families had only been able to be warned “a few days in advance” and therefore had no other alternative “solution”.

A worsening of the deficit

« The Little Feet of 77 », who administer the establishment, had therefore introduced an appeal to the administrative court of Melun as part of a “referred freedom”, an extremely urgent measure intended to sanction “serious and manifestly illegal attacks” carried out by public administrations and bodies against “fundamental freedoms” enshrined in the Constitution. In such a case, the judge must respond within 48 hours. What was at stake here was “freedom of commerce and industry” in France, depending on the structure.

There was in fact “urgency” to rule in this case since this administrative closure “deprives the association of revenue” and results in “ a worsening […] of the deficit linked to the operation of the micro-crèche “, taking into account its “fixed costs”, its “constraints” and its “insufficient cash flow”.

All of this “durably” undermined the financial balance of its operation, but also the “own financial balance” of the association, putting “ jeopardizes its short-term survival » and “maintaining the employment of its employees”.

The fault of the “technical manager”

The decision of the president (LR) of the Department of Seine-et-Marne, Jean-François Parigialso posed “a strong risk” of departures within the micro-crèche team, given “the tense situation in terms of recruiting qualified staff” during this back-to-school period. Finally, an “attack” on the “reputation” of “P’tits Pieds du 77” was “caused” by this temporary administrative closure, due to the “legitimate questions” of parents seeking “ a reliable childcare solution for their children ».

On the merits, the association argued that “the existence of breaches likely to compromise […] health […] or the education of foster children” was “not established” by the Department. There was also no “urgency to immediately close” the establishment; it was even “disproportionate to the objectives pursued”.

“The technical referent who would be the cause of dysfunctions was assigned within another establishmentalso reassured the lawyer of P'tits Pieds du 77. The association cannot be usefully criticized for having delayed in bringing the case […] while she legitimately believed that the measure […] would be lifted before the start of the school year. »

The president of the association, present at the hearing of the September 13, 2024had also “regretted” not having sued the Department “sooner” because of the “double talk” of the Maternal and Child Protection (PMI) services. He himself had also “financed the intervention of the lawyer” of the association “from his personal funds”. The “complaints” from parents mentioned in the order of the president of the Department of Seine-et-Marne had “not been produced”, noted in passing Franck Gniewek.

The fact remains that the association has not demonstrated that its “financial balance” would be “threatened in the very short term” and that “the continuity of its activity and the maintenance of its employees' jobs would be jeopardized”, the judge objected. summary proceedings in an order dated September 16, 2024 and which has just been made public.

Parents reported “dysfunctions”

The “summary table of resources and expenses drawn up by itself”, the “three statements from a bank account covering the period from June to August 2024 and all showing a credit balance”, the “ rent receipts “, the ” electricity bill » or the “salary slips” that she produced to the administrative court of Melun are in fact “insufficient” to prove it: she also manages “two other establishments for children under 6 years old”, explains the judge.

The fact that “families would only have been warned a few days before the start of the school year” and that they would be “deprived of an alternative care solution for their children” is “not likely to characterize the need to suspend the execution of the decree […] within forty-eight hours,” adds the administrative magistrate. Same thing for the damage to his “reputation”. “Without the need to comment on […] a serious and manifestly illegal attack on a fundamental freedom”, the request was therefore rejected.

Since then, the association has renounced its legal attempts against the Department of Seine-et-Marne: land September 23, 2024the same administrative court of Melun “took note” of its “withdrawal” in a second summary procedure, initiated this time on the more traditional basis of “summary suspension”.

“The closure was pronounced three weeks after the injunctions set by the Department, even though they were accompanied by a three-month deadline for their completion,” the association’s lawyer explained in more detail, in this second procedure. “It takes place in the context of a conventional termination with two employees and a financial difficulty encountered with parents, who report 'dysfunctions' in order to justify their two months of unpaid childcare. »

His “withdrawal” was finally decided on September 19, 2024 on the basis of an “email” received the day before from the Department, in which the latter “made a commitment to promulgate an order to reopen the micro-crèche before on September 23, 2024,” assured the association. “This withdrawal is pure and simple, there is nothing to prevent it from being given”, concluded the judge of the administrative court of Melun.

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