Paris examines police powers after controversial detention of teen

The French Senate tackled the thorny subject of police powers on Tuesday, with French Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie reaffirming her intention to limit the use of police custody to necessary cases and to improve conditions for those being held.

A penal procedure reform currently being considered would require that police custody be “proportionate to the gravity of the act” and be used “only for crimes and misdemeanours punishable by prison time”, Alliot-Marie said, after admitting that there was an overuse of police custody in France.

The Senate session came on the heels of a case last week which has been dominating the headlines across France. A 14-year-old student and two other female schoolmates were taken into police custody following their alleged involvement in a fight outside their school in Paris’s 20th arrondissement.

One of the students, whose first name is Anne, said that the police fetched her at home and took her by car to the police station, refusing her request to change out of pyjamas. According to her account, she spent nine hours in police custody and was treated harshly, being placed in handcuffs and being made to undergo a medical examination.

Anne has said that she was only trying to break up the fight that erupted outside her school.

The police have refuted all accusations of misconduct, saying that the rules concerning custody of minors were respected and that the student was treated with “extreme care and judgement”. The allegation that Anne was put in handcuffs was specifically rejected as false.

According to current French law, a child between 13 and 16 years of age can be placed in police custody for 24 hours if there is suspicion that he or she has committed an infraction.

Anne's family has said it is considering suing the police for using disproportionate means. Meanwhile, the Parisian police service is conducting an internal investigation into the case.