French prisons are now more overcrowded than ever, with up to four people sharing single-occupancy cells as the number of inmates continues to surge beyond capacity.
Justice Ministry figures from last month show 80,130 detainees crammed into facilities built for 62,357 people, a dozen of which are operating at double their official capacity.
The situation is particularly dire in remand centres, where 21,000 people await trial in facilities overcrowded to 155.1 percent.
Around 4,000 inmates are forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor, said Jean-Claude Mas, president of the International Prison Observatory.
“It all means that three to four people can be crammed into 9m² cells designed for one person,” Mas told RFI. “This overcrowding accentuates the dilapidation and filth associated with prisons.”
Prison numbers have been rising steadily for the past two years as government pledges to provide more places have been unfulfilled.
A Justice Ministry source described the situation as "an all-time record" and called it “regrettable”.
Failed promises
In 2017, shortly after sweeping to power, President Emmanuel Macron vowed to provide the extra capacity within a decade.
The new figures emerged after Justice Minister Didier Migaud conceded that the plan to build 15,000 additional prison places by 2027 will not be met on time.
“We have encountered difficulties in the timetable for major construction operations,” said Migaud. He stated that 6,421 places should be operational by 2027, with the full plan likely delayed until 2029 at the earliest.
In an attempt to cut prison numbers, more community service orders have been issued and judges have been told to stop giving sentences of less than one month.
It is understood the Justice Ministry is considering using former prisons, or emulating the system in Belgium and Germany where prefabricated blocks can be created within three months.
“Prisons are necessary, they are there to punish and protect citizens," said Migaud. "But incarceration must take place in conditions that are safe for staff and dignified for inmates.
”But to tackle overcrowding we need to consider all possible tools including alternative measures to incarceration for less serious offences."
Calls for reform
At the end of October, the International Prison Observatory and some 30 other organisations, including the French lawyers' union, the magistrates' union and the barristers' union, issued a joint statement calling for fundamental reforms aimed at reducing the use and duration of incarceration.
“Prison must no longer be seen as the benchmark of the penal system, and its alternatives, far from being symbolic, must replace confinement," they said.
Mas criticised the lack of progress, saying: “For two years now, we have been experiencing record after record levels. And there's no sign of any progress in this area – quite the contrary. There is a growing focus on repressive measures that worsen over-incarceration and prison overcrowding.”
