FRANCE'S highest administrative authority rejected an effort by campaigners on Wednesday to end what they say is a systemic and generalised practice by French police of targeting black people and people of Arab descent for stops and checks.

Local grassroots organisations and international rights groups had hoped that a favourable ruling from the Council of State could force deep reforms within French law enforcement to end racial profiling.

In its decision, the council said witness testimony and other evidence presented established that police do subject people to checks because of their physical characteristics — but the ruling said discriminatory checks are not systemic or generalised.

Plaintiffs expressed dismay, although some drew comfort from the ruling’s recognition that discriminatory checks do happen and are not rare.

“These high judicial authorities have failed to understand the violence and exclusion generated by these police practices,” Issa Coulibaly, the head of a Paris youth association involved in the complaint, said in a statement.

“They failed to grasp the historic opportunity to improve the daily lives of millions of their fellow citizens, particularly those perceived as black and Arab,” said Mr Coulibaly.

The council is France's ultimate arbiter on the use of power by authorities. The plaintiffs’ suit, France’s first class-action case against police, was filed in 2021. It included a 220-page file  full of examples of racial profiling by police.

The complaint was filed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Justice Initiative and three grassroots organisations that work with youth, including Mr Coulibaly's group, Pazapas.

The non-governmental organisations took the case to the council  after the government failed to meet a four-month deadline to respond to the opening salvo in the class action.