Didier Migaud admitted this Sunday, November 10 that the ten-year objective set by Emmanuel Macron in 2017 to limit prison overpopulation cannot be met. Only 4,500 new places have been built since.
It was an old promise from Emmanuel Macron, first launched in 2017: to implement a vast prison plan to limit prison overpopulation, which has become an unresolved chronicle for years in France. To do this, he had, among other things, promised the creation of 15,000 additional prison places by 2027, which would bring the number of operational places to 78,000 places. This objective cannot be achieved. The announcement comes from the Minister of Justice himself, Didier Migaud, guest of France Inter, France Télévision and the Monde this Sunday, November 10.
Since the announcement of this plan, only 4,500 new places have been delivered, according to figures from the chancellery. “There are projects that are completely blocked”admits the Minister of Justice. He assures that this delay would be less due to a lack of credit than to “land difficulties” and to “opposition from elected officials” reluctant to see closed educational centers or semi-liberty centers built on their territory.
79,631 people incarcerated in October
The minister still wanted to be active on the issue: “I will make proposals to the Prime Minister so that we can partly make up for this delay but we will not make up for it by 2027.” He should also make proposals to Parliament in order to be able to resort to “exceptional procedures” to overcome local opposition, “when it comes to establishments of national interest”.
It must be said that the excessive number of prisoners held in prison compared to the places available is far from improving. As of October 1, 2024, the number of prisoners in France reached a new record with 79,631 people incarcerated, compared to 78,969 the previous month. For some 62,000 operational places in French prisons. More than 3,000 prisoners are therefore forced to sleep on a mattress placed on the ground.
France is thus among the worst performers in Europe on the issue: according to a study published in June by the Council of Europe, France is in third position, after Cyprus and Romania. Last May, the annual report of the General Controller of places of deprivation of liberty once again drew up a distressing observation on the state of the prison environment and the care of its occupants, “a chain that has been derailed for too long.”
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