Prison Overcrowding: The Ministry of Justice-Commissioned Report Advocates for a Wide-Scale Sentence Reduction to Alleviate Congestion in Detention Facilities
In a desperate bid to deal with the escalating prison overcrowding crisis, the Ministry of Justice is advocating for an "extraordinary sentence reduction" for all inmates, with a few exceptions. This recommendation was put forward in a report consulted by AFP on May 10th, 2025, which was initiated by former Justice Minister Didier Migaud in November and submitted to his successor, Gérald Darmanin, in March.
The report declares that prison overcrowding must be recognized as a state of emergency, considering the consistent rise in occupancy rates. With 82,921 inmates and only 62,358 prison places, the global prison density is now 133%, far surpassing the capacity limit.
To appease public sentiment, the authors suggest setting a certain sentence threshold above which this mechanism wouldn't apply, much like the Covid-19 lockdown measures in spring 2020. Back then, convicts serving time for domestic violence, serious crimes, and terrorism were not eligible for this mercy. The extent of the sentence reduction, such as two months in the past, would also require determination.
To maintain the effectiveness of this measure, they propose that it can be "replicated" whenever the national occupancy rate breaches the threshold once again. This regulatory mechanism has been a long-standing demand from various professionals in the sector, including judges, prison directors, and lawyers.
The Chancellery has promised a public statement regarding this report in the near future. However, political resistance from senior officials like Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin and Interior Ministry counterpart Bruno Retailleau has led to a delay in large-scale, automatic sentence reduction policies, though discussions surrounding the matter continue.
In light of the report's recommendations, the Finance Ministry may need to allocate additional resources to manage the potential influx of former inmates reentering society due to sentence reductions. This could influence business sectors that provide rehabilitation and employment services for ex-convicts.
Meanwhile, the politics of criminal justice reform could be at the forefront of general-news headlines, as public sentiments clash with the reluctance of key officials like Gérald Darmanin and Bruno Retailleau to implement extraordinary sentence reductions.
