the number of detainees reaches a new record, with 73,080 people incarcerated

This is a new historical peak. For the third consecutive month, the number of detainees is on the rise in French prisons. As of April 1, 73,080 detainees were registered in French prisons, according to Department of Justice data (PDF)published Friday, April 28. The previous peak, in December 2022, was 72,836 detainees. Their number fell slightly in January before rising again in February. According to ministry figures, 55 prisons have a density above 150%. This occupancy rate reaches or even exceeds 200% in eight establishments.

On April 1, French prisons had 60,899 operational places. With 73,080 detainees, the overall prison density is 120% compared to 117.1% a year ago and 118.7% on March 1. The occupancy rate even reached 142.2% in remand prisons, where prisoners awaiting trial – and therefore presumed innocent – and those sentenced to short sentences are imprisoned. This chronic evil of French prisons had earned France a conviction before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in January 2020.

A “situation that keeps getting worse”

Contacted by AFP, Prune Missoffe, an official at the International Observatory of Prisons (OIP), deplored a “situation that keeps getting worse, month after month”, despite warnings about “dramatic conditions of overcrowding” in French prisons. “The government cannot continue to remain indifferent to the indignity of the conditions of detention and deaf to the repeated calls by national and international observers to reduce the number of detainees”, the association reacted officially in a press release.

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 progresses, it “falls significantly behind schedule”underlined the Court of Auditors in its annual report on the State budget, published on 13th April. “The 7,000 places that were to be delivered before the end of 2022 have not been built in full”, noted the Court of Auditors. A total of 24 establishments, i.e. half of the initial forecast, should be operational in 2024. The Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti is due to present his justice planning and orientation bill to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. which notably endorses the construction of these new prison places.