French President Emmanuel Macron’s government on Thursday set out a tough new anti-terrorism law that has already faced protests from civil rights groups.
The proposals presented to the first meeting of a reshuffled cabinet appointed Wednesday are designed to allow the lifting of the state of emergency that has been in place since the November 2015 attacks in Paris.
The state of emergency has been extended five times since it was introduced by the then Socialist government in response to the gun and bomb rampage that left 130 people dead.
The current provision expires in mid-July, when Macron’s new centrist government is expected to extend it again until November 1 while the new law is prepared.
The legislation has received the go-ahead from France’s top administrative court despite concerns from rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that it will enshrine into law draconian powers allowed under the state of emergency.