French police checked a man's ID three times in ten days with no justification, Europe's rights court ruled in its first racial-profiling finding against France.
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On 26 June 2025 the European Court of Human Rights, in Seydi and Others v. France, found by 6 votes to 1 that three identity checks of one applicant in Besançon in November-December 2011, one of which had no legal basis, gave rise to a presumption of discrimination that the French government could not rebut, violating Article 14 with Article 8; it awarded him 3,000 euros. The Court rejected the claims of five other applicants of African or North African origin and found France's legal framework at the time showed no systemic defect. The Open Society Justice Initiative, which litigated the case, cites a Défenseur des droits survey finding young men perceived as Black or Arab are 20 times more likely to be checked.
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