The Defender of Rights (Défenseur des droits) is a state institution responsible for safeguarding your human rights in France.
The Defender of Rights, as an independent administrative authority (autorité administrative indépendante), does not receive any instruction. The Defender of Rights and its deputies also enjoy immunities for opinions they express or actions they perform in their duties. This guarantees their total independence from the government, parliament, and courts.
The current Defender of Rights is Claire Hédon, nominated in 2020 for a single, non-renewable term of 6 years.
The Defender of Rights can investigate complaints related to potential human rights violations and determine whether your human rights have been violated. It can also suggest that the government amend a law if it deems that certain legal provisions have a negative effect on human rights and good governance. However, it is important to keep in mind that the Defender is not a substitute of the judge, and as such has no jurisdictional power over your case or its stakeholders.
The law has made the Defender of Rights in charge of 5 different fields:
- defend rights and freedoms of citizens regarding their relationships with public services
- defend and promote the rights and interests of children
- fight against direct or indirect discriminations
- ensure respect of ethics by the persons exercising security activities in France
- inform, advise, and guide potential whistleblowers to the competent authorities
The Defender of Rights can investigate situations relating to a violation of your human rights by French state institutions as well as by private individuals. If you wish to complain about an issue you are experiencing, you must first lodge a complaint to the relevant authority. However, this is not the case for issues related to the interests of children, discriminations, security activities and whistleblowers.