Briton’s EU voting rights cancelled in last-minute ruling by France's top appeal court

French lawyers seeking to regain voting rights lost by Britons in France due to Brexit have spoken out at the summary way in which they say top appeal court Cour de cassation has cancelled a Briton’s EU voting rights.

They are looking to challenge this on procedural grounds.

Earlier this year former British civil servant Alice Bouilliez was reinstated on the EU election voting lists as a citizen of an ‘unknown EU country’ after the court of Auch in south-west France agreed her striking off was a “disproportionate attack on her rights and freedoms”.

The ruling came after legal battles by Mrs Bouilliez, who is in her 60s, supported by her lawyers Julien Fouchet and Jean-Noël Caubet-Hilloutou who hailed it as a brave decision.

Britons in France who could previously vote in EU and local elections have no longer been able to do so since Brexit unless they have French or an EU nationality. Mrs Bouillez hoped the ruling would lead to a wider review. 

However, she reports the Cour de cassation axed the decision after a last-minute appeal from the Gers prefecture. 

“I’ve written to President Macron as I reckon he’s the only one who can do something now. Failing that, the European Court of Human Rights is a possibility. Normally being ineligible to vote is seen as a punishment.” 

She said the Cour said the Auch judges had overstepped their powers. She is now ‘suspended’ on the lists.

Mr Fouchet said: “The Cour de cassation behaved very poorly, having warned no one that there was to be a hearing in September, not respecting the time-periods for me to respond and simply notifying a decision to annual the Auch decision, without sending the matter back to the judge in Auch.”

In summary, the Cour’s motivation in doing so was ‘Brexit means Brexit’, he said, though it had failed to consider his legal arguments.

He said he is lodging a request to the court to retract its ruling on the basis of the irregularities he has identified.