the Council of Europe expresses its “deep concern”

The Council of Europe asks France to review its strategy to combat prison overcrowding. The members of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe expressed, in a decision handed down on Thursday March 14, “their deep concern” faced with the average occupancy rate of French prisons and remand centers, which rose to 147.6%, and which continues to increase.

The French authorities have taken measures to try to remedy this prison overcrowding: banning prison sentences of less than one month, modifying sentences, home detention under electronic surveillance or developing community service for example.

France already condemned in 2020

But these prove insufficient. Faced with this observation, the members of the Committee “urge the authorities [françaises] to reconsider their strategy for combating overpopulation, by tackling its root causes and evaluating, in detail, the impact of the latest reforms, all while taking into consideration the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment [CPT] as well as the observations of field workers.

The Council of Europe is the main human rights body on the continent, bringing together 46 countries. Its judicial arm, the European Court of Human Rights, condemned France four years ago in a case of prison overcrowding. The Council of Europe will carry out a new monitoring of the situation in 2025.