The new Minister of Justice wants to build new prisons so that convicts can all serve their sentences in penal establishments.
Gérald Darmanin has barely arrived at the Ministry of Justice and he is already starting work, with shock announcements during trips on Christmas Day. Visiting the Amiens judicial court, he said he wanted “more detention places for minor sentences”.
It must be said that short sentences, that is to say lasting less than one year, are not always served in prison. According to the minister, a third of prison sentences are amended. The lack of space in penitentiary establishments pushes magistrates to require the wearing of electronic bracelets rather than confinement for the shortest sentences. A reality which is far from pleasing Gérald Darmanin.
However, the vision of the Minister of Justice requires new prison places. Indeed, the population density in prisons is on average 123.5% in France, with remand centers which are sometimes up to 200% full, reports The World. A situation which leads to a breach of human dignity, recall the unions. So to realize the wish of the new minister, new prison places must be built. But it is expensive and France is already behind schedule in the construction of the places promised by Éric Dupont-Moretti, when he was at Justice.
Easier prisons to build
New prisons which would represent an additional expense in the state budget, which it is still difficult to know if it will be adopted. Gérald Darmanin said he wanted to obtain “additional credits” from Amélie de Montchalin, the new Minister of Public Accounts, with whom he would meet on Monday. The new Minister of Justice also sent a message to parliamentarians asking them to be “reasonable” and to adopt the budget: “It will be the time to adopt a new budget because it is not the special law which will provide more resources for justice.” Not sure that this appeal will work given the opposition’s reactions to his appointment.
Gérald Darmanin nevertheless specifies that the prisons he wants to build would not be the same as the existing ones. He wants prisons “on a human scale”: “We do not necessarily need prisons with watchtowers and barbed wire.” A project already put on the table by the previous government, as well as by Marine Le Pen, explains an elected RN to RMCwhich specifies that these prisons could be set up in unoccupied barracks.
On the side of the magistrates’ union, we believe that prison sentences are not always the solution for greater security. In fact, 62% of prisoners who have served their entire sentence in a penitentiary establishment are sentenced again within five years of their release.