A legal insecurity: Article L. 435-1 and the death of Luis Bico
Published on
In 2017, Luis Bico was shot dead by police officers after refusing to stop for them (refus d’obtempérer). Seven years later, having exhausted all legal remedies in France, his family has taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights to seek justice. Index revisits the Bico case in a documentary investigation in which the main suspect is an article of law.
- Incident date
- Location
- Châlette-sur-Loing (France)
- Victim(s)
- Luis Bico
- Consequence(s)
- Death
- Force(s) involved
- National Police
- Methods employed
- Firearm
- Theme(s)
On 19 August 2017, Luis Bico, a 48-year-old man suffering from psychiatric disorders, was shot dead by police officers firing at his vehicle in Châlette-sur-Loing. A few months earlier, a new law had changed the conditions under which National Police officers may use their weapons when confronted with drivers who refuse to stop when ordered to. Under this law, the case against the officers involved was dismissed (non-lieu), a decision upheld on appeal. Seven years after the death of Luis Bico, his family is still seeking justice: in September 2024, it lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights.
In this investigative documentary, Index revisits the Luis Bico case with Lucie Simon, the lawyer representing the family of the deceased, and the witnesses who filmed the incident. Beyond the responsibility of the officers who fired the fatal shots, the main suspect in this case is Article L. 435-1 of the Internal Security Code, introduced by the law of 28 February 2017. Since it came into force, the number of people killed by police shots fired at a vehicle has soared in France. Luis Bico is among the first victims of this legal uncertainty.
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