The bill to bolster police surveillance powers, which allows police to carry out more random identity checks and make it easier to close places of worship suspected of preaching hatred – all without the prior approval of a judge – was adopted by legislators in the lower house by a margin of 415 to 127.
Interior minister Gérard Collomb said after the vote: “Lawmakers realise that today’s threat is serious and that we must protect ourselves against terrorists. This must be done in a way that balances security and freedom. This text will help protect French people.”
But while UN experts warned last month that the bill could tarnish France’s human rights record, MP Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right Front National party, said in the wake of the vote that the bill was a “fraud” and would not help prevent future terrorist attacks.
Mrs Le Pen said after announcing that she had voted against the new law: “This bill is a fraud, a ‘subpar’ state of emergency.”
The Front National president later called for the bill to be revised, saying that it should explicitly denounce terrorism as an act of war and include new measures allowing authorities to deport immigrants with a criminal record.
The hard-right leader also accused the government of “normalising terrorism,” and called for France to leave the EU’s Schengen border-free area, arguing that it allows the free movement of terrorists.
Marwan Muhammad, of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, said of the bill: “What was problematic and exceptional will now become problematic and normal. There is no coming back from this.”
More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since January 2015 by radicalised terrorists who pledged allegiance to, or were inspired by, the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS).