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French Three-Strikes Law Ruled Unconstitutional
An anonymous reader was one of several to write with this news: "The French 'Conseil Constitutionnel' just ruled that the recently voted 'Hadopi' law, which enforces a 'three strikes and you're out' system, is actually unconstitutional [article in French; here's an English-language article at Ars]. They mainly make two points: 1) They argue that removing Internet access is equivalent to hindering a person's freedom of speech, and as such can only be decided by appointed judges. This removes all punitive power from the administrative body supposed to enforce the three-strikes rule; all it can do now is warn you that 'they're watching you.' 2) When illegal filesharing is detected, users have to prove their innocence. This is obviously contrary to the constitutional principle of presumption of innocence."
The conseil constitutionnel is not a joke compared to the US Supreme Court, it's just something completely different. It validates or invalidates laws passed by parliement, when the supreme court is a judicial body, ruling over a court case.
~~~ Paf. Le chien.
To clarify a bit, the "Conseil Constitutionnel" in France is supposed to check that new laws respect the principles of the French Constitution, which is supposed to respect the principles of the "Men and Citizens's Right Declaration" from 1789.
From now Internet in France is recongnized as a fundamental right, associated to the right to communicate freely.
Wrong, the United States Supreme Court can review and declare a law unconstitutional.
Only in connection with a court case brought by an entitled petitioner.
But SCOTUS can only rule a law unconstitutional based on a court case. Someone affected by the law must sue the appropriate government entity before any court can rule on it.
For example, in the original case that led to D.C. v Heller from last year, the plaintiffs had to have applied for a firearm permit under the current system, and been denied. Then the denial would be the basis of the case.
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France uses civil law which means a court's decision is not a law, the US uses common law so deciding a court case there can very well make a new law. So in the US being a court implies being able to make or remove laws while in France that's a separate set of permissions.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.