With 68,472 detained on September 1, the number of people incarcerated in French prisons increased again in August,
according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice consulted Wednesday by AFP.
On September 1, French prisons had 68,472 detainees for 60,374 operational places, against 68,301 on August 1 and 67,971 on July 1, an increase of 501 prisoners in two months.
Prison density up to 113.4%
Traditionally, due to a slowdown in judicial activity in July and August, there are fewer summer admissions. This growth is 14.6% over one year: there were 59,735 prisoners on September 1, 2020. Prison density in the 188 penitentiary establishments now stands at 113.4%, up slightly compared to July 2021 ( 113.1%). A year ago it was 98.6%.
This density is 132.6% in remand centers, where prisoners awaiting trial and those sentenced to short sentences are incarcerated, an increase of 21 points compared to September 1, 2020. Prison density even reached 202 , 9% at the Tarbes remand center, 196.9% in Carcassonne and 194.9% in La Roche-sur-Yon. As of September 1, more than half of the detainees were held in a prison overcrowded by more than 120%, and 1,299 were forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor. Among the detainees, 18,650 (27.2%) are defendants, imprisoned awaiting trial.
Drastic drop at first confinement
The number of imprisoned minors (773), who represent around 1% of the prison population, has decreased slightly, as has that of female prisoners (2,933 on September 1, or 3.6% of the prison population). A total of 82,273 people were placed in jail on September 1, including 13,801 who were not detained and were placed under electronic surveillance (13,138) or placed outside (663), figures on the decrease.
Prison overcrowding is regularly singled out. The European Court of Human Rights had condemned France in January 2020 for its chronic overpopulation and ordered it to reduce it definitively. In the spring of 2020, thanks to the health crisis, the number of inmates had dropped drastically (-13,000), and the average prison occupancy rate had fallen for the first time in twenty years below the 100% threshold. But since the resumption of judicial activity in September 2020, the prison population has continued to climb.