State liability for damage caused by gatherings (Article L. 211-10 of the French Internal Security Code)

The provision fits in one sentence: the French state is civilly liable for damage resulting from crimes and offenses committed openly by force or with violence by armed or unarmed gatherings, against persons or property. It is a no-fault regime. The victim does not have to show that the police did a poor job. The conditions, though, are tight: an offense classed as a crime or a délit, committed by an identifiable group rather than an isolated individual, with a direct link between the gathering and the damage. The Conseil d'Etat rules out premeditated actions by an organized squad formed solely to cause damage, on the ground that this is no longer a gathering. The insurer that paid its client under the riot and civil commotion cover is subrogated (Article L. 121-12 of the Insurance Code) and brings a recovery action against the state in the administrative courts, within the four-year limitation period. The state can in turn recover from the municipality if the municipality is itself liable. After the fall 2005 riots, the Conseil d'Etat, in its rulings of July 11, 2011, rejected several claims on the ground that the acts in question, premeditated and organized, were not spontaneous. For the underwriter, the regime weighs little in pricing, since recovery is slow and uncertain. One caveat: for the damage of June and July 2023, when large crowds attacked town halls and stores in broad daylight, the gathering test is easier to argue, but each file turns on its facts, and some claims have already been rejected at first instance.