The shortage of teachers in Seine-Saint-Denis, an “attack on human dignity”? Justice has decided

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Zero points. THE State Council in turn disavowed the mayors of the municipalities of Seine-Saint-Denis who had issued decrees to remedy the “disturbances to public order” caused by the shortage of teachers in their schools.

Twelve angry municipalities

As a reminder, the mayors of Montreuil, L'Île-Saint-Denis, Pantin, Stains, Bagnolet, Bobigny, Sevran, Les Lilas, La Courneuve, Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Noisy-le-Sec and Romainville had adopted decrees relating to “general administrative police measures to respond to disturbances to public order in Education”. They considered that “the State's failure”, in the absence of “sufficient human and material resources” in primary and secondary education, was “constitutive of a violation of the dignity of the human person ».

The 12 mayors had therefore relied on their “general administrative police power” to “stop this attack”. On this occasion, in April 2024, they put the State on notice to initiate, “as quickly as possible”, a emergency plan proposed by the department's teachers' union.

They also demanded that National Education create additional positions of teachers, of psychologistsdspecialist teachers and Accompanying Students with Disabilities (AESH) subject to a penalty of 500 euros per day late.

But the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis had contacted the summary judge of the Montreuil administrative court to put an end to their attempts. And on April 26, 2024, the summary judge agreed with him by suspending the execution of each of the municipal decrees. “The means laid down that the municipal authority could not […] rely on its municipal police powers […] appears likely to create serious doubt as to the legality of the decision,” justified the summary judge of the Montreuil administrative court.

Not likely to create “a disturbance of public order”, according to the court

The elected officials then appealed. But “the lack of teachers and staff in schools and the resulting difficulties for students […] cannot be considered as an attack on human dignity likely to create a disturbance of public order,” concluded the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal on July 16, 2024.

The mayors therefore announced in the press that they would bring the matter before the Council of State, the highest court in the French administrative order. They deplored the “insufficient motivation” of the decision of the Paris administrative court of appeal, but also its “error of law”. But “it is obvious that none of these means is likely to allow the appeal to be admitted”, rules the Council of State in each of its 12 judgments dated October 10, 2024 and which have just been rendered public.

/CB (PressPepper)

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