2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Act: A New Exceptional Law for an Extraordinary Event

Law No. 2023-380 of 19 May 2023 on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and containing various other provisions: a new exceptional law for a particularly exceptional event

The hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024 is a sporting event of a very large scale. Also, the law of 19 May 2023, which supplements Law No. 2018-202 of 26 March 2018, is set up as an exceptional law with exceptional looks.

It should be recalled that the organization of sporting events in France such as the European Football Championship in 2016, the Women’s World Cup in 2019 or the Rugby World Cup in 2023, has always required legislative changes (cf. Law No. 2011-617 of 1 June 2011 to facilitate the financing of stadium construction and renovation projects, Decrees No. 2019-350 of 23 April 2019 and No. 2022-1626 of 22 December 2022 applying Article L.211-11-1 of the Internal Security Code to the Women’s Football World Cup and the Rugby World Cup in particular).

But never before has a law made as much echo as that of May 19, 2023, which draws its originality from a controversial modernity through the use of intelligent video surveillance, put at the service of security.

Since the entry into force of the Ministry of the Interior’s Orientation and Programming Law on January 26, 2023, it is indisputable that upgrading and modernizing the Ministry to adapt to new security challenges requires a digital revolution.

The new Olympic Law is therefore part of this project by allowing, in a completely new way, the experimentation of data processing by “so-called augmented” video protection cameras, which consists of algorithmic processing whose purpose is to detect in real time and report certain predetermined events likely to present or reveal risks of acts of terrorism or serious attacks on the security of persons.

Although this innovative aspect is widely considered beneficial for the security of the country in the context of an exceptional event such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, some (such as the National Commission for Informatics and Freedoms) consider that this law is likely to infringe on our individual freedoms and leaves the door open to a generalization of these techniques in the future. The Constitutional Council, in its decision n ° 2023-850 DC of May 17, 2023, deemed in conformity with the Constitution the provisions of the law on the use of these smart cameras by recalling in particular that the algorithmic processing of the images thus collected is authorized until March 31, 2025 and can only be implemented for the sole purpose of ensuring the security of sports events, recreational or cultural activities which, by their magnitude, are particularly exposed to risks of terrorist acts or serious threats to the security of persons.

It should be recalled that facial recognition techniques remain prohibited and that the public must be informed in advance of the use of algorithmic processing of images collected by authorized video protection systems or by cameras installed on drones.

For the first time, technical progress is therefore recognized as a necessary tool for the smooth running of large-scale events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, giving Law No. 2023-380 of 19 May 2023 a completely innovative look.

By Jean-Baptiste-Guillot, France, a Transatlantic Law International Affiliated Firm.

For further information or for any assistance please contact france@transatlanticlaw.com

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