The members of the Constitutional Council must render, this Thursday, January 20, their decision on the law obliging hunters to bear the damage caused by big game on agricultural crops. The federations cry out against inequality in the face of public office.
After seizing the Council of State, the Landes Hunting Federation finds itself with the national body before the Constitutional Council to raise a priority question of constitutionality (QPC).
The Elders are asked to rule on the conformity of the law which makes the federations, and therefore the hunters, bear the financial burden of compensating for the damage caused by big game to crops.
“For us, this law undermines equality before the public office and the right to property, insists Me Tugas, the Bayonne lawyer of the Landes Federation who pleaded on January 11. It’s like asking firefighters to pay for the damage caused by the fires they put out. »
Public service mission
“The expenses are more and more important to the point of reaching a deficit of 2 million euros. Unsustainable in the face of the decline in the number of hunters and an explosion in the wild boar population. »
This would amount to putting in suspension of payments those who carry out this public service mission. “We have to find another mechanism so that it’s not just the hunters who are solely responsible for the damage. The decision of the Elders is expected this Thursday, January 20.