Nice introduces a curfew for children under 13

An order imposing a curfew on minors under 13 comes into force on Wednesday 1^er May, in Nice, which follows the example of other municipalities having taken this type of measures in the name of the fight against delinquency. The order 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 decree mentions several districts, including the city center of Old Nice, and emphasizes that “the accusation of minors in acts of delinquency as victims or perpetrators does not weaken” in 2024. In the Moulins district, “plagued by endemic drug trafficking (…) with minors often recruited by adults as lookouts or sellers”, the curfew concerns all minors under the age of 16, specifies the document. The mayor also notes the fact that “tourist influx leads to large groupings, often resulting in deviant behavior”not sparing minors.

“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 a matter of window dressing”then regretted the elected opposition member (Ecologist), Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, reproaching Mr. Estrosi “the slashing of 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 years old has been in force since 2004. A ban which, according to the municipality, “part of a global policy” including other measures for youth.

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 items, and the government is increasing its announcements of firmness on this theme a few weeks before the European elections.