Activities and sporting events

Policing powers of the mayor

In a general way, your role consists, activities sporting events, to take care that it is not undermined the peace and with the security of the third parties and to prevent the supervening of an accident.

> 1. Your policing powers as regards sports activities

All the sports activities do not forward by the same risks or do not involve the same harmful effects for the residents. Your policing powers will be exerted in a different way according to the sports activities concerned. Some require a more detailed attention of your share. You can thus be led to:

To limit the course of certain sports activities in space and time In order to preserve the peace and the security of the inhabitants of your commune:
>You can impose that certain their activities limit to certain hours of the day.
example: You can determine certain schedules for the use of the aircraft of model aircraft making (see EC, March 8th, 1993, Commune of , . p. 655). You can prohibit the use of a shooting range at certain hours.
(See EC, July 8th, 1992, Town of , . p. 281).

>You can impose that certain sports activities proceed in well defined places.
example: You can limit the use of the machines to casters with the only especially arranged surfaces.
You can prohibit the use of balloon apart from the playgrounds arranged for this purpose. Thus, you can also prohibit that children play tennis shoe in the street because the fall of the balloon causes a noise likely to disturb the residents.

To impose the compliance with certain safety regulations
>You can impose the compliance with certain safety regulations for sports activities whose practice can forward special risks (ski, shooting, climbing, bungee-jumping, Paint-ball, canyoning, etc).
example: As regards ski, you have the obligation to regulate the conditions of use of the runways open to the skiers and to make all the provisions so that their use does not forward a danger to the users.
(See EC, May 11th, 1978, CTS ).
Thus, you can take measures of temporary or permanent prohibition of access to the dangerous places. You must also make announce a dangerous natural obstacle even if the aforementioned is apart from the marked tracks and is located on a way borrowed by many little experienced skiers.
(See EC, October 31st, 1990, Commune of Valley of Isere C. of ,
. Nos 74686 As regards shooting, you must make sure that and the operation site and installation requirements of a shooting range offer guarantees sufficient for the security of the population.
(See EC, Dec. 7, 1979, Ville of Pares C ).

> 2. Your policing powers as regards sporting events

You must intervene as regards sporting events mainly on the basis of your general policing powers resulting from the item of the general Code of the autonomous regions.

Certain demonstrations are covered by a specific regulation and note of a special font: sporting events being held on the public highway (decree Nos 13 1566 of the bearing October 18th, 1955 general regulation of the proofs and competitions being held on the public highway) and automobile sporting events being held in places nonopen to circulation (decree Nos 20 1533 of December 23rd, 1958 relating to the regulation of the proofs or sporting events organized in places nonopen to public circulation and containing the participation of the motor vehicles).
Within this framework, you can be led to:

To impose the compliance with certain safety regulations by the participants
>You can especially regulate the behavior of certain sporting events by imposing the compliance with certain safety regulations to the participants when these demonstrations proceed in equipment belonging to your commune.
example: At the time of a sporting event using a wall of climbing belonging to the commune, you can impose to the participants the respect of rules of procedure indicating the normal conditions of operation and access, the instructions in the event of accident, etc
(See OJ - written questions, National Assembly, July 27th, 1992, p. 3405).
You must prohibit with an association cyclist to organize a race on the communal public domain as soon as the number of participants considered is too high taking into consideration provided for police and stewards and circulation term.
(See CA Paris, November 15th, 1983, Gas. Stake. 1984, . 207).

To impose the respect of certain measurements to the spectators
>In order to ensure the safety of the spectators of the sporting events, you must:
to regulate the access of the spectators to the sporting events
example: You can prohibit, because of the requirements of organization of a moto-cross, the accesses of a cemetery located in edge of the circuit and the stationing on the routes going along this circuit during two days of 7:30 at 19:00.
(See EC, March 29th, 1978, , ., p. 724.).
You can forward to the payment of a royalty the stationing of the vehicles on the territory of your commune on sites especially reserved for this purpose at the time of the arrival of a stage of the turn of France cyclist.
(See EC, February 22nd, 1991, Commune of Bagnères-to-Luchon C latch, p. 63).

to provide for a safety device of the witnesses with respect to the participants
You must make sure that the spectators will not be exposed to possible wounds caused by participants in the sporting event.
example: At the time of a tournament of volley ball, you must take care of the installation of a safety device allowing to maintain the spectators far away from the ground.
(See EC, February 25th, 1976, , . p. 116).

Your policing powers are exerted on the whole of the communal territory, whether the sporting event proceeds in a public place or a private place. Indeed, if you do not have normally a competence of font with regard to the private places, your policing powers reappear when these places are freely accessible to the public or if their use involves or is likely to involve outside the disorders with the law and order.

> 3. Your responsibilities

Within the framework of the exercise of your policing powers de activities sporting events, you can see your criminal responsibility and civil engaged.

Your criminal responsibility. As soon as a damage was caused with a person and according to her seriousness, you can be continued penally for homicide and involuntary injuries because you did not use your policing powers in a correct way. In the event of absence of damage, your criminal responsibility can also be required for setting in danger of others.
example: You can be penally continued not to have regulated the use of a natural site of climbing not forwarding of the specific dangers in the event of death or of wounds of a user of this equipment.
You can also be continued to have let be held on the communal public domain a cycle race without taking restriction measures of circulation, an accident implying the participants and a vehicle having occurred.
You can be continued for setting in danger of others to have let sports activities be held on equipment not meeting the standards while at the same time any damage was not undergone.

So certain activities and demonstrations which proceed in communal equipment generate a specific embarrassment for the residents, your criminal responsibility can be engaged on the basis of several penal incrimination related to the concept of din (see card attached “policing powers of the mayor vis-a-vis the noise”).

Your civil responsibility. If it is not proven that the use of the policing powers was, of your share, the purpose a detachable fault of the service, your civil liabilities will be always ensured by your commune.

Card-index realized by Bernard , François and François

References:
Article of the general Code of the territorial collectivities.
Decree Nos 13 1566 of the bearing October 18th, 1955 general regulation of the proofs and competitions being held on the public highway.
Decree Nos 20 1533 of December 23rd, 1958 relating to the regulation of the proofs or sporting events organized in places nonopen to public circulation and containing the participation of the motor vehicles.
Law Nos 81 912 of July 16th, 1984 relating to the organization and the promotion of the physical-activities and sporting and carrying various relative tendencies with these activities.
More:
Code general territorial collectivities, Tome 2, Article .
Vade mecum of the municipal action, collection Mail of the mayors and the town councilors, editions of the Monitor: “Clean capacities of the mayor in his share on behalf of the commune”, pp. 36 to 42.

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