The 2023 shark-cull campaigns carried out by the Nouméa city hall and the Southern Province were clearly illegal. After the Nouméa Administrative Court described these measures as “disproportionate” and not scientifically justified, and then the Court of Appeal in Paris, the Conseil d’État rejected the city’s cassation appeal in this case. The association Ensemble pour la Planète calls on elected officials to “choose legal and scientifically substantiated solutions.” Details from our partner Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes.
It is now confirmed: the tiger and bull shark culling campaign conducted jointly by the Southern Province and the city of Nouméa in 2023 was not in line with the law. In a ruling issued on October 20, the Conseil d’État, France’s highest court, refused the cassation appeal filed by the city of Nouméa, the last possible remedy for a local authority already dismissed at first instance and then by the Court of Appeal.
The municipality challenged the annulment of the administrative court’s decision, taken in December 2023, to carry out “regulation campaigns.” It argued that the Court of Appeal had not properly qualified the facts, omitting to specify that these measures were intended to “prevent an imminent peril.” The Conseil d’État deemed the argument inadmissible and held that it did not justify admitting the appeal.
EPLP demands “legal and scientifically substantiated solutions”
The decision closes more than three years of judicial proceedings, initiated by the association Ensemble pour la Planète (EPLP), which has won all lawsuits brought against the municipality. Following an October suspension of the killings to allow a merits-based review, the administrative court subsequently banned them, deeming these measures “disproportionate,” particularly given the absence of scientific data capable of measuring their effectiveness.
This ruling had not prevented the Southern Province and the city from attempting the experiment again in February, the day after a windsurfer was attacked by a shark. “The protection of human lives requires action. The safety of residents remains the absolute priority,” the two authorities justified themselves, convinced of the effectiveness of shark-culling campaigns, even though they could not prove it.
“We again strongly urge the elected officials in charge to lead by example and to respect judicial decisions,” reacted EPLP in a statement posted on its social networks this Monday, November 2. “It is high time to opt for legal and scientifically substantiated solutions.”
