Demonstrations: the MICAS, anti-terror measures, at the heart of a controversy
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- Lawyers and unions accuse the Interior Ministry of using anti-terror measures (MICAS…) before the demonstrations of 24 and 31 October.
- Laurent Nuñez speaks of about twenty bans on appearing; a lawyer estimates about sixty people were targeted on the weekend of 31 October. No official figure verified.
- The MICAS stem from the 2015–2017 state of emergency and entered ordinary law with the 2017 SILT law.
- Late notifications are said to have deprived people of an effective remedy; the LDH and others went to the Conseil d’État.
In this article
What is at stake
According to franceinfo (5 November, morning), lawyers, unions and associations accuse the Interior Ministry (Laurent Nuñez) of using counter-terrorism tools to stop dozens of activists from joining the demonstrations of 24 and 31 October. They are mostly MICAS (individual measures of administrative control and surveillance), applied from Friday evening to Sunday evening. The ministry did not answer questions on the number of orders. Before the Assembly’s commission of inquiry mentioned in our previous article (news-fr-20261104-nunez-audition-commission-enquete-17-octobre), Laurent Nuñez spoke of about twenty bans on appearing, notably for the 24th, citing an insurrection risk and explicit calls for Halloween night, the 31st. Lawyer Aïnoha Pascual estimates at least about sixty people were targeted for the weekend of the 31st alone; most have no criminal record.
What the MICAS are and the procedural problems
The MICAS can impose a travel perimeter (often the commune), daily reporting to the police station or a ban on appearing in a place. They last up to three months and are renewable. Some of the orders are limited to a ban on appearing based on a March 2026 law linked to the 2030 Olympic Games. In both cases the law only allows them to “prevent the commission of acts of terrorism”. The notification period is in principle 48 hours before taking effect for a MICAS and 72 hours for a ban on appearing, except in case of “duly justified urgency”. Several lawyers say many orders arrived the evening before, depriving those concerned of an effective remedy. For example David (a pseudonym), an activist from the Vienne, was notified by gendarmes the day before the 31st; the Poitiers administrative court only ruled on Saturday at 6 pm, too late for him to demonstrate.
Historical background: why are anti-terror tools used for demonstrations?
Because the MICAS, born of the state of emergency, passed into ordinary law and their scope widened. According to franceinfo, they derive from the measures of the 2015–2017 state of emergency and entered ordinary law with the SILT law of 30 October 2017. They first targeted returning jihadists and radicalised people with psychiatric disorders; during the Paris 2024 Games they extended to wider groups, including many minors, explains public law professor Serge Slama. In summer 2024 the ministry issued 547 MICAS, of which 178 were challenged before the administrative court and 52 annulled or suspended. In May 2024 the European Court of Human Rights condemned France over the house arrest of an ecologist during COP21 in 2015.
The critics, and what is not verified
The LDH, the Syndicat de la magistrature and the Syndicat des avocats de France denounced on Wednesday an “authoritarian turn” and referred to the Conseil d’État the orders banning people from joining a gathering point. According to lawyer Raphaël Kempf, the safeguards collapsed when the ministry called the actions of 17 October “terrorist”. Lawyers also stress that the MICAS often rely on “notes blanches”, intelligence whose sources are not revealed. Administrative judges must rule on the merits within fifteen days. On the ministry’s side, we could not verify anything beyond Laurent Nuñez’s statements quoted above, nor an official figure for the number of orders.
Learn the grammar
French grammar
Learn sentence patterns and usage from the article’s own sentences.
01Negation and its scope
ne / n’ … pas · ne … plus
Le ministère n’a pas répondu aux questions sur le nombre d’arrêtés.Key pointsNormally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.
02Citing a source with selon
selon + noun / organisation
Selon franceinfo (5 novembre au matin), avocats, syndicats et associations reprochent au ministère de l’Intérieur (Laurent Nuñez) d’avoir utilisé des outils de lutte contre le terrorisme pour empêcher des dizaines de militants de rejoindre les manifestations des 24 et 31 octobre.Key pointsSelon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.
03Pouvoir: ability and possibility
peut / peuvent / pourrait + infinitive
Les MICAS peuvent imposer un périmètre de déplacement (souvent la commune), un pointage quotidien au commissariat ou une interdiction de paraître en un lieu.Key pointsPut a base-form verb after pouvoir. Peut means “can” or “may”; the conditional pourrait gives a more reserved possibility, “might”. It does not necessarily mean implementation is settled.
04Purpose with pour
pour + infinitive
Pour empêcher des militants de rejoindre les cortèges des 24 et 31 octobre, le ministère de l’Intérieur a recouru à des mesures antiterroristes (MICAS).Key pointsThis is the purpose, “in order to…”. Put the base form of a verb after pour. The purpose stated here is separate from whether the effect was actually achieved.
05The construction il s’agit de
il s’agit de + noun / infinitive
Il s’agit surtout de MICAS (mesures individuelles de contrôle administratif et de surveillance), appliquées du vendredi soir au dimanche soir.Key pointsIt explains what something is about: “it is a matter of…”. The il is not a particular man but a formal subject of this construction. The negative il ne s’agit pas de means “this is not about…”.
06The present of être
est / sont + complement
Ce qu’elles sont, et ce qui est contesté.Key pointsEst is third-person singular and sont third-person plural of être. They express “is / are” — a state or description. If a past participle follows, it is a different structure such as the passive, so check the words that follow.
Japanese grammar
Understand the structure and usage from the text.
01Citing a source: によると
noun + によると
franceinfo（5日朝）によると、弁護士や労働組合、人権団体は、内務省（ローラン・ヌニェス大臣）が、数十人の活動家が10月24日と31日のデモに参加するのを防ぐため、テロ対策の制度を使ったと批判しています。Key pointsAs in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.
02Indicating the subject: について
noun + について
内務省は、出した件数についての取材に答えていません。Key pointsAs in “予算について”, it shows the topic to be talked about or explained. In the form “〜についての報道”, の is added so that the group qualifies the following noun.
03Cause or purpose with ため
〜ため / 〜ために
10月24日と31日のデモに行かせないため、内務省が約60人にテロ対策の行政措置（MICAS）を出したと弁護士は見ています。Key pointsため is used for both reason and purpose. “成立ではないため” is a reason and “運転手を守るため” a purpose. Decide from the whole sentence whether what precedes is a cause or a goal.
04Giving examples with など
noun / expression + など
ヌニェス氏は、前の記事（news-fr-20261104-nunez-audition-commission-enquete-17-octobre）で伝えた国民議会の調査委員会で、24日などを理由に「立入禁止（interdiction de paraître）」を約20件出したと述べ、蜂起の危険と、ハロウィンの31日夜への明確な呼びかけを理由に挙げました。Key points“暴言など” gives “abusive language” as one example. It is not necessarily a closed list of only the things named. It also helps when reading the scope of a news story.
05The polite past ました
verb stem (連用形) + ました
多くはMICAS（テロ防止のための個別の行政的管理・監視措置）で、金曜夜から日曜夜まで適用されました。Key pointsIn “発表しました”, ました makes a verb polite past. The negative is “ませんでした”. Read the actual date together with the date and time in the text.
06Quoting with と: content and report
plain-form sentence + と + verbe de parole (報じる, 説明する…)
何の制度か、何が問題とされているかを整理します。Key pointsと takes the content that is reported or explained. In “改定する方針だと報じました”, “改定する方針だ” is what the report said. Separating the content from who said it and how makes long sentences easier to read.