France's top court rules against parts of immigration bill

France's Constitutional Council on Thursday rejected over a third of the articles included in the recent controversial immigration bill that passed through parliament with the help of the far-right.

The highest court in the land, the Council ruled that parts of the law were unconstitutional. These included measures aimed at limiting access to social benefits for migrants and making family reunification more difficult.

It also ruled against the introduction of immigrant quotas set by the French parliament.

Far-right calls court ruling a 'coup'

In total, the Council threw out 32 of the 86 articles in the bill. But most of those were articles that had been added under pressure from the right and far-right in the French parliament.

"The Constitutional Council has approved all the government's text," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the parts of the bill that had been introduced by President Emmanuel Macron's party, Renaissance.

Macron had made the bill a key policy for his second term, but it also appeared that he would need far-right support to push it through, given that he lacks a working majority in parliament.

But he also referred the legislation to the court. It's ruling could offer some relief from the embarrassment of having to depend on anti-immigration populists.

The far-right party National Rally (RN) was less enthusiastic about the ruling.

Party president Jordan Bardella called it a "coup by the judges, with the backing of the president."

Why was the bill so controversial?

The bill was passed by France's lower house in late December after sparking widespread protests and even threatening to unleash a rebellion within President Macron's own party.

To win the far-right's support, the government included an article to introduce immigrant quotas which would have made it more difficult for the children of immigrants to become French.

Despite being spearheaded by Darmanin, it was the support that it received from the far-right RN that drew the most anger and attention.

Ultimately, the bill passed with a large enough majority that the government would not have needed RN support after all, but the far-right party's leader Marine Le Pen nevertheless called it a "great ideological victory."

ab/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)