French Senate passes 'rioters pay' bill with up to €10,000 liability

France's Senate passed legislation on Wednesday that makes participants in riots and vandalism financially liable for up to €10,000 in damages, approving the bill 229 votes to 105 in the early hours.

The measure, drafted months ago after riots followed a major sporting event, gained fresh political urgency after violence on 17 October left thousands of businesses across France damaged and looted.

Under the bill, liability attaches to anyone found to have knowingly participated in a group formed with intent to vandalize or loot, regardless of whether they personally caused damage. Anyone who voluntarily remains in a gathering likely to disturb public order after two police warnings also faces financial exposure.

Senators expanded the original text to allow the state to reclaim welfare benefits from convicted rioters, including the family supplement, back-to-school allowance and employment bonus. Where rioters are minors, parents can be held liable. A separate clause widens the circumstances under which foreign nationals convicted of serious offences during protests can be expelled.

Communist senator Fabien Gay condemned what he called a deliberate conflation of protesters and rioters, while Green senator Melanie Vogel accused the government of collective punishment. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez insisted the bill creates joint responsibility, not collective responsibility.

Amnesty International warned the penalties risked pushing already marginalised families further into poverty and expressed concern that the expulsion clause introduced xenophobic rhetoric into the legislative debate.