Is France soft on crime?

New official data shows the country is jailing more criminals than ever before, but still lags far behind the UK and US

The prison population in France will be higher than ever in 2024, new data from the Justice Ministry shows. However, the figures are still significantly behind those of the UK and US.

The number of prison inmates rose by 4,415 to 76,766 in 2023 – a record for France. In comparison, there are around 95,526 total prison inmates in the UK and around 1,230,100 in the US.

In comparison, this means that per 100,000 people:

• France imprisons 107

• UK imprisons 143

• The US imprisons 531

Increasing France's comparatively low incarceration rate is a persistent refrain of the (far-right) political party Rassemblement Nationale.

“There are no more short prison sentences,” Marine le Pen told TF1 in 2022. “For years they have thought that instead of six months or even a year in prison you should serve alternative sentences, wear bracelets. Community service, all that nonsense, but there are no short terms and I think they are wrong.”

As of 2020, prison sentences of between one and six months must be served in an alternative manner.

However, this is consistent with Mr Macron's noticeable shift from the political center to the right, which has also been observed Introduction of school uniformsThe Ban on abaya dress and that restrictive new immigration lawThe number of prisoners has been rising for two years in a row.

Despite the relatively low prison population in France, the European Council expressed “deep concern” about the increase in this number.

“Inhumane conditions”

In July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights condemned France for the “inhumane conditions” in its prisons. In fact, 3,099 prisoners were found to be sleeping on mattresses laid out on the cell floor.

There are 124 prisoners for every 100 places in France, 148 of whom are in short-term prisons or prisons Maisons d'Arret – Levels comparable to those in Turkey.

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

“We will build 15,000 new prison places within the five-year period, 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, but with a revised end date of 2027.

However, the prison workers' union UFAP-Unsa remains skeptical.

“Given the rate at which prison numbers are increasing, 15,000 additional places will be a drop in the ocean,” it said in March.

“The provision of 15,000 new places for 2027 will in no way enable prison authorities to achieve their target of 80% of inmates in single cells.”

For the director general of prisons, Dominique Simonnot, France should consider a different approach.

“There are European countries like Spain, Germany and Holland that have managed to drastically reduce their prison population,” she said West France.

“They emphasize punishments outside of prison. In France the only punishment that matters seems to be prison.”