The French Cabinet on Wednesday backed reform proposals that could see the state of emergency called after last month’s Paris attacks enshrined in the Constitution.
Special policing powers used under the state of emergency — such as house arrests and the right to raid houses without judicial oversight — are currently based on an ordinary law which can be challenged at the constitutional court.
In the wake of the Paris attacks that left 130 dead, President Francois Hollande called for the emergency powers to be protected from litigation by placing them in the constitution.
“The threat has never been higher,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls said. “We must face up to a war, a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam,” he said.