PARIS—France’s parliament is poised to pass a controversial counterterrorism law, after the National Assembly and Senate reconciled their respective versions of the bill Monday. The lower house is now set to vote the final text into law today, with the Senate to follow suit next week.
The law serves to integrate into the statutory code many of the measures that were adopted under a three-month state of emergency declared after the Paris terrorist attacks of November 2015. Later extended to six months, the state of emergency has been renewed systematically since then. It will now be replaced by the new law when it expires in November.
The law includes the most controversial elements of the state of emergency, softening some and adding new ones. Like the emergency decree, it offers greater range for police searches, while putting them under judicial supervision. It similarly allows for the police to place suspects under administrative house arrest without a judicial procedure, but widens the zone of restricted movement—suspects must now remain within the city limits, rather than within their domicile—and reduces the number of times per day the suspect must report to the police station from three to one. Those placed under house arrest can appeal the decision to a supervising judge, with the restrictions suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.