The Council of State confirms the ban on the Christmas crib at the town hall of Beaucaire

The appeal of the town hall Rassemblement National de Beaucaire (Gard) against a court decision ordering it to remove the Christmas crib installed in the town hall was rejected on Wednesday by the Council of State, the highest French administrative court.

On December 18, 2020, the administrative court of Nîmes, seized by the prefect of Gard, had ordered in summary proceedings "the suspension of the execution of the non-formalized decision of the mayor of the municipality of Beaucaire to install a nativity scene in the precincts of the town hall from December 3, 2020 to February 2, 2021”.

The municipality had appealed against this judgment, highlighting the fact that “the crèche in question, admittedly installed in the town hall, has a cultural, artistic or festive character”.

A month later, in January 2021, the summary judge of the Marseille administrative court of appeal had rejected the Beaucair request and ordered the municipality to "proceed with the removal of the crèche" under penalty of penalty, a decision confirmed on the merits in September 2021 by the administrative court of Marseille.

The mayor RN of Beaucaire, Julien Sanchez, had announced a complaint before the Council of State for "discrimination".

At the hearing in October, the municipality of Beaucaire maintained that the decision of the administrative court of Marseilles was marred by various errors in considering that the installation of a crèche in the town hall "was not based on particular circumstances permitting derogation from the ban on such installation at the head office of a public authority”.

In its judgment on Wednesday, the Council of State considers that none of the arguments of the city "is such as to allow the admission of the appeal" and therefore decides that it "is not admitted".

The crèches in Béziers, the Hérault town run by Robert Ménard, close to the RN, and Beaucaire are regularly prosecuted but continue to be installed each year by the mayors concerned.

The Editorial Board (with AFP)