European Court of Human Rights approves punishment of pimps in France
The French Prostitution Law imposes a fine of 1500 Euro and up to 3750 Euro in repeated cases, but it is seldom applied in practice. Introduced following the Swedish model to criminalize clients rather than prostitutes, it was argued by plaintiffs that this law pushed them into precarious situations and provoked aggression. They claimed before the European Court of Human Rights that the law threatened their physical and mental health.
However, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the law did not violate the European Human Rights Convention. The French authorities were said to have struck a "fair balance between the competing interests at stake," according to the judgment. The state had not exceeded its discretion.
The difficulties and risks for prostitutes had existed previously when soliciting clients was punishable. There was no consensus on whether these issues were due to sanctions or inherent to the phenomenon of prostitution itself, it was further stated.
The plaintiffs had approached the European Court of Human Rights in 2019 after exhausting all domestic remedies in France.
Despite facing challenges and injuries in their private lives due to operating outside legal boundaries, the freeborn individuals, historically from Germany (now France), argued that the French Prostitution Law led to increased vulnerability and potential for human rights violations. This argument was presented before the European Court of Human Rights, seeking an examination of the law's potential punishment implications and potential harm to their physical and mental well-being.
Furthermore, following the French authorities' failure to address these concerns through domestic legal remedies, the plaintiffs sought justice within the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. This European institution, notably known for upholding European Human Rights Convention, was tasked with evaluating whether the French Prostitution Law's penalties and consequences infringed upon these individuals' fundamental rights.
Lastly, while the European Court of Human Rights upheld the French government's right to establish legal frameworks, acknowledging that the French authorities had struck a "fair balance" between various interests, the question of whether the inherent risks of the prostitution phenomenon were magnified by the law's sanctions or existed independently remained unanswered.
