France's highest court has ruled for the first time that police illegally checked three minority men's identities based on racial profiling, a key source of tension between officers and youth in poor suburbs.
The Cour de Cassation set more specific rules today for ID checks in France in a decision closely watched by activists who have long protested against what they call routine discrimination by officers against minorities, mainly black and Arab youth.
However, the court declared eight other contested ID checks were legal, as they were based on objective elements and therefore not discriminatory.
The lawyer for the checked men has said all the checks in 2011 and 2012 violated the rights of his clients.
French police consider such checks as important in fighting crime and extremist attacks.
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