Paris Court of Appeal Rejects France's Bid to Suspend Chinese Retailer Shein
The French government failed in its latest legal attempt on Thursday, March 19, as the Paris Court of Appeal rejected a request for an emergency suspension order against China-based retailer Shein. Although authorities had discovered illegal items including childlike sex dolls and banned weapons being sold online earlier this year following last month's scandal involving similar products found at retail stores in France, they could not secure immediate action from judicial bodies to block the marketplace section of their website entirely or partially as requested by officials who argued that...
Key Points
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1A French appeals court rejected the government's request to temporarily suspend a section of Shein's website in France.
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2The scandal involved illegal items such as weapons, banned medications for sale on the retailer's platform including childlike sex dolls. The Paris Court upheld its previous refusal and confirmed that ultra-fast fashion online retailer will not be blocked.
Developments
Perspectives
A French appeals court on Thursday rejected the government's demand to temporarily suspend a section of Shein's website in France after discovering it was selling weapons, banned medications and childlike sex dolls. The courts ruled that while these items were found for sale elsewhere online (including Amazon), they did not constitute evidence sufficient under EU law alone to justify suspending an entire marketplace.
— [Mar 19, 06:37] Shein : la justice française va-t-elle suspendre la ' market place' du site chinois ?"The French state had found obscene dolls and banned weapons for sale on the retailer's website," according to reports. France launched legal action amid this scandal, but a Paris Court of Appeal has once again rejected its attempt.
— [Mar 19, 06:37] Shein : la justice française va-t-elle suspendre la ' market place' du site chinois ?"France suffers another setback in bid to suspend Shein platform." The government's legal action was based on a scandal involving childlike sex dolls.
— [Mar 19, 06:37] France suffers another setback in bid to suspend Shein platform (Independent.co.uk)"The French state had found obscene dolls and banned weapons for sale on the retailer's website." The Paris Court of Appeal rejected this attempt because finding such items elsewhere online was not sufficient evidence under EU law.
— [Mar 19, 06:37] Shein : la justice française va-t-elle suspendre la ' market place' du site chinois ?"Ultra-fast fashion ecommerce platform retailer she in will be blocked no france," the Paris Court of Appeal said on Thursday.
— [Mar 19, 06:37] Shein : la justice française va-t-elle suspendre la ' market place' du site chinois ?A French appeals court rejected a government request on March 19 to suspend part of Shein's website, ruling there was no longer systemic risk after the company removed illegal items like weapons banned medications. However, while blocking the marketplace section deemed disproportionate due to ISSL's prompt removal and monitoring measures, the Paris Court upheld an existing ban preventing reselling lawful adult pornographic products without age verification filters.
The Paris Court of Appeal rejected France's attempt on March 19 to suspend its marketplace and upheld an earlier December decision that only banned specific prohibited items like sex dolls. Consequently, Shein remains operational in Europe but must enforce age-verification measures for all products while prohibiting the sale of those flagged goods by third-party sellers.