Following a visit to Paris last month, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, wrote a memorandum released on Tuesday in which she has also asked the French government to "refrain from introducing excessive restrictions to freedom of peaceful assembly" via a bill currently under debate in parliament.
The controversial bill aims at cracking down on troublemakers who use protests to attack police.
According to the French Ministry of Interior, more than 3,000 people, including protesters and police, have been injured since the "yellow vest" demonstrations started in November last year.
Police have been criticised for their use of defence ball launchers to disperse demonstrators after many of them reported serious injuries caused by these rubber pellets.
In the memorandum, Mijatovic asked French authorities to suspend the use of the ball launchers in public order operations and to review its policies on the use of such weapons as soon as possible.
She acknowledged the complexity of police operations but encouraged alleged victims of police misconduct to systematically report it in order to avoid impunity.
Mijatovic also expressed concerns about the detention of protesters when no wrongdoing is reported. She said French legislators should ensure the so-called "anticasseurs" (anti-troublemakers) bill respects the right to freedom of assembly.
The bill has been criticised by rights groups, opposition members and even members of French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party as going too far in restricting freedoms.
It could authorise prefects in charge of local regions to prevent people from taking part in protests if they believe they are a serious threat to public order.
The bill could also force protesters involved in acts of violence to pay for the damage, and make it a crime for protesters to conceal their faces during demonstrations.
Mijatovic recommended that "the introduction of an administrative ban on demonstrating should be avoided as this would constitute a serious interference in the exercise of this right, especially as there is already provision in the internal security code for the judicial authorities to impose a ban on demonstrating".