France’s Constitutional Council in Paris Photo: Conseil constitutionnel
France's Constitutional Council on Friday ruled that New Caledonia's list of eligible voters for local election should stay "frozen" for the time being.
In a much-awaited verdict, the court, which is asked to rule on constitutional matters, upheld the status quo in terms of restrictions on who is and who is not allowed to vote at New Caledonia's provincial elections.
The matter is highly sensitive and has been at the centre of controversies in recent months in the French Pacific territory.
This includes the insurrectional riots that broke out in New Caledonia in May 2024, where 14 people died and over two billion Euros in material damage.
The unrest followed protests from the indigenous Kanak community, where opponents claimed any modification of the restriction and the potential "unfreezing" would allow an estimated 12,000 more voters to qualify and vote at local elections, a situation which they said would effectively "dilute" the indigenous voice.
The Constitutional Council's ruling follows a request from a local grouping of voters (from a "One heart, One Voice" association, mainly pro-France), who claimed their constitutional and universal suffrage rights have been infringed since 2007, when the measure was enforced.
The restrictions were applied under New Caledonia's 1998 Nouméa Accord and as part of its implementation, later transcribed into an "organic Law" in March 1999.
They were initially described as a "transitory" measure and were also enshrined in the French Constitution as part of the Nouméa Accord.
The restrictions exclude from the "special electoral list" French citizens who, on 31 October 1998, had resided in New Caledonia for less than ten years or were not 18 years old at the time.
However, the "special list" may be reviewed on a yearly basis, based on applications and population statistics updates.
The association claimed that although they were paying taxes, they were denied their right to vote and more generally, the principles of equality and universal suffrage under the French Constitution and the Declaration of Human and Citizens' rights.
Urgent matter
The case was regarded as "urgent".
The eight sitting Council members on Thursday 18 September 2025 (published on Friday 19 September) ruled the "freezing" of New Caledonia's electoral roll was not an infringement of the French Constitution, because it was part of the Nouméa Accord which was itself "constitutionalised".
This was because, they said, the decision to apply the electoral restrictions, as part of a Constitutional amendment voted on 23 February 2007, was made with full knowledge that it was a "derogation to the principles of equality and universality", including the Constitutional amendments (Title XIII) and that, until now, it has not been imposed any limitation in time.
In other words, the "freezing" measures cannot be contested and disputed simply because, through the Nouméa Accord, they are part of the Constitution and that so far, the Constitution has not been modified since.
The Court however acknowledged that over the years, and because of demographic changes, the percentage of people who qualified to be included in the "special list" but were "deprived of their right to vote (...) has significantly increased. This results in a change of circumstances, in Law and in fact, which could justify a re-examination (of the restricting measures)".
Changes could be made in future
The Council therefore also suggests those "transitory" measures could be modified in future as part of a process to redefine New Caledonia's future "political organisation".
This process could also take into account "the evolution of New Caledonia's demographic situation".
The envisaged review, they said, could thus readjust the restrictions and "with time, alleviate" the increasing discrepancies between the principle of universal suffrage on one hand and the evolving demographic situation.
The Court concludes that "the disputed" measures to freeze New Caledonia's electoral roll "do not ignore any other right or freedom guaranteed by the Constitution (...) "cannot be ruled unconstitutional" and "must be declared in conformity with the (French) Constitution".
Plaintiffs "One heart, one Voice" reacted to the ruling on social networks saying it "lacks courage".
"We had anticipated this decision and we're already working on the next step. And this is the CEDH (European Court of Human Rights)".
New Caledonia's Congress, on 15 September 2025, voted in favour of the postponement of the French territory's next provincial elections.
The vote was an "advice" in response to a request from the French Senate, which is supposed (just like the French National Assembly) to vote on the same matter in the coming weeks.
The new postponement also comes as part of a series of pieces of legislation yet to be enacted, all trickling down from a recent pact signed on 12 July 2025 in Bougival (near Paris) between New Caledonia's political stakeholders.
The "Bougival agreement project" remains a subject of controversy as one of the main pro-independence groups, the FLNKS, has since denounced the signature of their negotiators, saying they had no mandate to sign it and that it did not reflect the movement's quest for full sovereignty.
The FLNKS later pronounced a "block" rejection of the Bougival document.
French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls, left, greets members of the Customary Senate in Noumea on 20 August 2025. Photo: AFP / Delphine Mayeur
The Bougival deal, a sort of roadmap for New Caledonia's political future status, encompasses, amongst other things, the creation of a "State of New Caledonia", a dual French/New Caledonia nationality and the transfer of key powers (starting with foreign affairs) from France to New Caledonia.
Under the Bougival agreement's proposed implementation, the provincial elections were now to take place not later than 28 June 2026 and an amendment to the French Constitution is deemed necessary.
A frontline opponent to the Bougival deal, the FLNKS also denounces any move to once again postpone the provincial elections and demand that voters be called to the ballot boxes no later than 30 October 2025.
The crucial poll was already postponed twice: initially scheduled to take place in May 2024, it was then differed to December 2024, then to no later than 30 October 2025.
New Caledonia's provincial elections are crucial in New Caledonia's current political system: they not only elect members of the three provincial assemblies (North, South and Loyalty Islands) but in a trickle-down proportional representativity effect, they also form the de facto Parliament for the whole territory, the Congress.
