In his speech to the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, Michel Barnier set the tone for a stricter penal policy, which arouses reservations among magistrates.
Of the “sanctions” Who “intervene quickly”penalties “actually executed”... The Prime Minister declared, Tuesday October 1, in his general policy speech, his intention to provide more “firmness” in the legal response. “It is necessary that the judgments be respected, that the sentences be carried out without being transformed”insisted Michel Barnier from the National Assembly, before outlining the outlines of a stricter penal policy, “that the French ask for” according to him. What proposals did he list? What are the differences from what exists? How is this speech received by justice professionals? Elements of response.
1 What exactly did Michel Barnier say?
In order to avoid “to make the criminal response lose all credibility”, the Prime Minister proposed “short and immediately executed prison sentences for certain crimes”, without specifying which. “I think we also need to review the conditions for granting suspended sentences and limit the possibilities of reducing or adjusting sentences,” added Michel Barnier. “Finally, we will provide for greater recourse to community service, administrative fines and fixed tort fines. To ensure that these fines are effectively paid, we will effectively recover deductions from wages or social benefits,” he continued.
“To reaffirm the dissuasive role of the sanction, we must build places of
prison”, Michel Barnier once again insisted, while the number of prisoners in France reached a new record on September 1, with nearly 79,000 people incarcerated. But shortly after, the Prime Minister also said he was in favor of “diversify confinement solutions” and spoke out in favor of “the creation of establishments for short sentences”. How will this desire be implemented? We will still have to wait to find out. “It’s being refined,” tells franceinfo the Ministry of Justice, which confirms that “the prison program will be continued”. “The chancellery and the prison administration are working on it jointly,” adds the ministry. “All this will be clarified soon, in conjunction with Parliament”confirms Matignon to franceinfo.
The firmness displayed by Michel Barnier echoes the declarations of the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau. “There must be sentences handed down, the sentences pronounced must also be carried out. Prisons must be built”Bruno Retailleau declared on TF1 on September 23, the evening he took office. For several years, the LR leader, representative of a hard right, has also been in favor of short sentences, “in suitable prisons”, including for minors. Bruno Retailleau often cites the Netherlands as an example. A country which has chosen short incarceration sentences, from the first offenses, but where there is no prison overpopulation, unlike France.
2 Currently, how are short prison sentences applied?
Michel Barnier’s proposals mark a turnaround compared to Emmanuel Macron’s initial ambitions. At the start of his first term, the head of state wanted to eliminate very short sentences and develop alternatives to incarceration. Thus, since the justice programming and reform law promulgated in 2019, it is impossible to impose prison sentences of less than or equal to one month. And sentences of less than or equal to six months must be amended, “unless impossible resulting from the personality or situation of the condemned person”.
Thus, since the 2019 law, the adjustment of prison sentences has progressed significantly. In 2023, more than 40% of sentences have been adjusted or converted before incarceration, according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice. Placement under an electronic bracelet is the most common mode of accommodation and traffic offenses are the most affected by these alternatives to prison.
At the same time, the 2019 law lowered the threshold from which a prison sentence cannot be imposed to one year, compared to two previously. This has mechanically led to an increase in the rate of immediate execution of prison sentences when they exceed 12 months. From 2020, the average length of detention has increased from 8.5 months to almost 12 months.
The fall in incarcerations for those sentenced to short sentences has therefore not relieved prison congestion. Michel Barnier recognized on Tuesday that the current 62,000 places are “very insufficient”. A shortage which “harms dignity”. “Justice [française] has never been so severe. Sentences are increasing, prisons have never been so full.” considers for his part the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Rémy Heitz, guest of franceinfo on Tuesday. But the response to this problem differs according to legal professionals.
3 How do the magistrates react?
Michel Barnier’s speech “shows a certain ignorance of the work of justice, estimates Kim Reuflet, the president of the Magistrates’ Union, classified on the left. Every day, in immediate appearance, short sentences are pronounced and applied: six months in prison with a committal warrant, that’s not exceptional.” “His words imply that justice is lax”regrets Kim Reuflet, who is awaiting details. “These proposals are thrown out in a very vague manner while measures already exist but do not work: we must stop applying ineffective recipes, considers the magistrate. What we need to do is question the meaning of the sentence and how to avoid recidivism.”
A point of view shared by Ludovic Friat, general secretary of the Union of Magistrates. “What we all want is to avoid recidivism. Will the fear of prison, over a short sentence, fulfill this function? For certain individuals, perhaps. For others, it does not will change nothing, or not much”, he judges. “The Netherlands set it up for a prison shock from the first slightly serious offense”confirms Ludovic Friat. But they have created dedicated establishments, underlines the magistrate: “The idea is not to mix first-time offenders with seasoned repeat offenders.” The secretary general of the USM therefore questions the budgetary resources allocated to the construction of new establishments. “This policy of firmness only makes sense if we have the means to carry it out, otherwise we are in an incantatory state,” insists Ludovic Friat.
On the question of suspended sentences, these exemptions from serving a prison sentence under certain conditions, the magistrates are also wondering. Michel Barnier announced on Tuesday that he wanted “revise the conditions for granting the suspended sentence”. “Are these the conditions for revoking the suspended sentence in the event of a new offense? Or a desire to incarcerate more?” asks Aurélien Martini, deputy secretary of the USM, interviewed by AFP. “We understand the ‘big ideas’, but what he wants to do concretely is not very precise”, concludes, for her part, Céline Bertetto, president of the National Association of Sentence Enforcement Judges.