(+) Is France soft on crime?

The country is imprisoning more criminals than ever but still lags far behind the UK and US, new official data shows

France’s prison population in 2024 is higher than ever, new data from the Ministry of Justice shows, however the numbers are still considerably behind those of the UK and the US.

The prison population increased by 4,415 over 2023, rising to 76,766 – a record for France. In comparison, the UK has a total prison population of approximately 95,526 people and the US approximately 1,230,100. 

In comparative terms, this means that, per 100,000 individuals:

• France imprisons 107

• The UK imprisons 143

• The US imprisons 531

Boosting France’s comparatively low rate of imprisonment has been a persistent refrain of the (far-right) Rassemblement Nationale political party.

“There are no more short prison sentences,” Marine le Pen told TF1 in 2022. “For years now they think that rather than doing six months of prison, or even a year now, they say you should do alternative sentences, wear bracelets, community service, all that nonsense, but there are no short terms and I think they are wrong”.

From 2020, prison sentences of between one and six months must be served in alternative ways.

However, in line with Mr Macron’s noticeable shift from the political centre to the right, which has also seen the introduction of school uniforms, the banning of the abaya dress and the restrictive new immigration law, the number of prisoners has been rising for two consecutive years.

Despite France’s relatively low prison numbers, the European Council announced its “profound concern” due to their rise.

‘Inhumane conditions’

In July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights condemned France over the “inhumane conditions” of its prisons. Indeed, 3,099 prisoners were found to sleep on mattresses laid on cell floors.

For every 100 places, France houses 124 prisoners, rising to 148 in short-term jailhouses or maisons d’arret – levels comparable to those in Turkey.

France’s condemnation by the European Court of Human Rights was no surprise to the French authorities, who have been aware of the problem for many years.

“We will build 15,000 new prison places over the five-year term, or around a quarter more than currently planned,” announced then presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron in 2017 – a plan that was quietly shelved for five years.

Then in 2023, the plan for 15,000 new prison places was revived, albeit with a revised end-date of 2027.

However, the prison workers’ union UFAP-Unsa remains sceptical. 

“At the rate prison numbers are rising, 15,000 more places will be a drop in the ocean,” it announced in March.

“The delivery of 15,000 new places for 2027 will by no means allow the prison authorities to meet its objective of 80% of inmates in individual cells.”

For the Controller-General of prisons, Dominique Simonnot, France should envisage a different approach.

“There are European countries like Spain, Germany and Holland that have succeeded in drastically reducing their prison populations,” she told Ouest France. 

“They place the emphasis on sentences outside of prisons. In France it seems like the only sentence that matters is prison.”