The number of prisoners in France reached a new peak on April 1, with 77,450 people incarcerated, or 4,370 more than the previous year, according to figures published Tuesday April 30 by the Ministry of Justice. This is the highest number of prisoners ever recorded, according to prison administration statistics.
At the same time, French prisons had 61,570 operational places. In some facilities, prison overcrowding reaches 200%. Due to lack of space, the number of people forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor is increasing sharply: 3,307, compared to 2,151 a year ago.
In mid-March, the Council of Europe expressed its “deep concern” about this chronic prison overcrowding. The French authorities have taken measures to try to remedy the situation: banning prison sentences of less than one month, modifying sentences, home detention under electronic surveillance or developing community service, for example. But these prove insufficient.
The Council of Europe has invited the French authorities to “seriously and quickly examine the idea of introducing a binding national prison regulation mechanism”. The government still expects to build 15,000 new prison places by 2027.
