France is regularly singled out for criticism due to the dilapidated state of its prisons. The prison suicide rate is higher than the European average. Each year sets a new record for prison crowding. So let’s discuss the subject.

Dilapidation, brutality, poverty, indignity.. The French general inspector of prisons – an independent watchdog created in 2008 – painted a dismal picture of French prisons in its second report published at the beginning of March 2010. Made all the more dismal by the presenter adding: We have said nothing in this report that is substantially different from what we said a year ago. Progress has been made in all areas, but much still has to be done.

The state of our prisons: a dramatic rise in the prison population (up by 23.7% between 2000 and 2007 according to a report by the Council of Europe), crowding (125 inmates per 100 beds), problems with rehabilitating offenders (The prison department only allocates a little over 11% of its budget to the social rehabilitation of prisoners according to a report by La Documentation française), a lack of human contact in newer prisons (less wardens, more CCTV), a reduced number of activities on offer to inmates (sport, education, etc.), less working hours, a rise in dead time and boredom. The same causes produce the same effects in many prisons the general inspector prisons visited: Frustration is growing in these prisons and there is a resulting and inevitable increase in prisoners’ aggression [leading to] violence towards themselves and towards others.

In January 2010, the Ministry of Justice announced the number of prisoners who had committed suicide in 2009: 115.

There are 194 penal facilities in France, 111 prisons, 77 penal centres, and 6 young offenders institutions.

Pour en savoir plus

• French general inspector of prisons
• International Observatory on Prisons
• Ministry of Justice
• Prisons Department
• Ban Public
• For statistics about privatised prisons in France, go to the Private prisons forum

Find complete statistics about prisons in France in the film Prison Valley.