French Parliament Enacts Ripost Law Criminalizing Large Unlicensed Raves

The French parliament has formally enacted the Ripost public disorder law, which criminalizes unlicensed music gatherings exceeding 250 people. Under the new legislation, organizers face up to two years in prison, fines of €30,000, and the confiscation of sound equipment and vehicles. Attendees can be sentenced to six months in jail and fined €7,500.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez championed the bill to protect rural communities from land misuse, specifically citing incidents in Aude and the Loire Regional National Park. He stated the law would "strengthen the government’s determination to crack down more harshly on this kind of wild event."

The legislation follows a history of violent confrontations between the free party movement and the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité. Notable incidents include a 2019 raid in Nantes that resulted in the death of Steve Maia Caniço and a raid in Rendon where a partygoer lost his hand.

Critics, including the collective Tekno Anti-repression and lawyers from the Fonds de Soutien Juridique des Sons, argue the law targets working-class youth and erodes individual freedoms. Tekno Anti-repression characterized the law as part of a "global shift towards the right" and a trend toward state surveillance of the population.