The "guilty inertia" of the state in the face of this record overpopulation. These are the words used by Dominique Simonnot, the Comptroller General of Prisons, in her annual report, published on May 11. The number of detainees reached a new all-time high on May 1, with 73,162 people incarcerated in French prisons, according to official data from the Ministry of Justice. The 73,000 inmate mark was crossed on April 1. This is the fourth consecutive month that the number of people incarcerated has increased.
With 60,867 operational places in prisons, the overall prison density now stands at 120.2% compared to 117% a year ago and 108% on May 1, 2021. The occupancy rate is 142.9 per cent in remand prisons, where presumptively innocent detainees and those sentenced to short sentences are held. Of those imprisoned, 19,852 are remand prisoners, imprisoned pending trial.
It even reaches or exceeds 200% in six establishments: 250.9% in Majicavo (Mayotte), 225.4% in Bordeaux-Gradignan, 214.9% in Tulle, 213.5% in Nîmes, 209.2% in Foix, 208.2% in Perpignan.
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More than 15,500 prisoners are currently overcrowded compared to the places available in French prisons. As a result of this overcrowding, 2,241 detainees are forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor. To combat this endemic disease, the government wants to build 15,000 new prison places by 2027.
Chronic prison overcrowding, which continues to worsen, led to the France being condemned in January 2020 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
