Eric Dupond-Moretti was questioned by lawyers on Friday, June 8, about prison overcrowding, which continues to worsen and for which France was recently condemned, during the general assembly of the National Bar Council ( CNB).
Faced with this chronic evil, the Estates General of Justice had pleaded for a mechanism setting for each establishment a threshold of “major overcrowding” beyond which measures to “regulate” the prison population could be “considered”. A proposal that was not retained in the Justice bill currently being considered in Parliament.
“The prisons are overflowing, the conditions there are inhuman, France has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights”, recalled Me Laurence Roques, president of the freedom and human rights commission of the CNB, which represents the 70,000 lawyers in the profession. “Why don’t you choose this prison regulation mechanism?” “, she continued, facing the minister.
With 73,162 people incarcerated for 60,867 operational places, France reached a new historic record on May 1, a record that had already been beaten in April, December and November. The previous peak, in December 2022, was 72,836 detainees. Their number fell slightly in January, before rising again in February. As of April 1, French prisons had 60,899 operational places. With 73,080 detainees, the overall prison density is 120%, compared to 117% a year ago and 118% on March 1.
15,000 additional prison places by 2027
“I have a responsibility that is political,” defended the Keeper of the Seals. “There are 73,000 inmates and 60,000 places. If you want there to be no more prison overcrowding, then, right away, I have to release 13,000 inmates”. “If I do that,” he continued, “I’m giving the far right an unexpected gift,” because “French society is not ready for 13,000 people to be freed.” “So what do we do?” I build prison places,” he said.
The government wants to build 15,000 additional prison places by the end of the five-year term. But, if the implementation of this plan is progressing, it “is significantly behind schedule”, recalled the Court of Auditors in its annual report published in April. “The 7,000 places which were to be delivered before the end of 2022 have not been built in full”, thus noted the Court of Auditors.
In 2023, ten new establishments currently nearing completion, representing 1,958 places, should be delivered. A total of twenty-four establishments, i.e. half of the initial forecast, should be operational in 2024.
“Some people tell me ‘the more you build, the more we will fill them.’ (…) What do I do then? If you have the solution, I take. I note right away, I implement,” insisted Mr. Dupond-Moretti.
The Minister then recalled that the budget for the renovation of penitentiary establishments had “doubled” compared to “when the left was in power”, and that the number of community service offers had also “doubled”. He noted that lawyers “didn’t advocate” enough for this alternative to prison, which magistrates are also still struggling to grasp. “It’s still not working well,” but we’ve “put a number of things in place,” he concluded.