Key facts - The City Council of Tournon passed a long lease with the arabo-islamic cultural association of Tournon granting a communal parcel of land for an annual rent amounting to one euro. A local unit of the Federation of the Free Thinking lodged an appeal with the administrative court of Lyon to request the annulment of the City Council resolution embedding this contract. The local Federation argues that on the one hand, the parcel is at the disposal of the association for free, and on the other hand, that it is in view of the construction of a place of worship only. The City Council decision infringes the December 9^th, 1905 Act. The administrative court of Lyon annulled the resolution.

Reasoning of the court - The Court refers to article 2 of the December 9^th, 1905 Act, which provides that “the Republic neither recognizes, nor salaries, nor subsidizes any religion” and decides that it results of those provisions that the public local authorities cannot legally grant subsidies to associations with religious activities.