Facts and holding: the Administrative Court of Appeals of Paris ruled on March 11, 2005 that the nature of the work required by the "gardiens de la paix" (policeman) justified the requirement of a minimum height of the candidates to such a profession. The Court overruled the ruling of the Administrative Court of Versailles which cancelled the refusal of the Préfet of the Yvelines to validate the application of a candidate whose height was less than 1.68 meter. The Administrative Court found that the bill requiring men candidates to have a minimum height of 1.68 meter while the requirement for women was 1.60 meter was illegal and discriminative.
Reasoning: the Administrative Court of Appeals of Paris found that there was an objective difference of situation regarding the height of men and women. Such a difference justified the requirement of a minimal height to be a candidate to the profession of "gardien de la paix". The Court rejected the claim of a violation of article 14 of the European Convention (non discrimination) because the claim did not state precisely which right or liberty was violated by the alleged discrimination.
