France's prisons are bursting at the seams

France's penitentiary system has set a new record for the number of inmates. As of August 1, there were 89,668 people in the country's prisons — 6.5% more than a year earlier. Meanwhile, the facilities are designed for only 63,303 places.

This was reported by Le Figaro, citing data from the Ministry of Justice.

Due to the shortage of places, 7,956 mattresses had to be placed on cell floors, which is 43.5% more than the figure a year ago. The occupancy of pretrial detention centers, which hold those sentenced to short terms and those awaiting trial, reached 175%, and the overall occupancy rate of French prisons ultimately stood at 141.6%.

At the beginning of the year, the Council of Europe criticized the condition of French prisons, warning of the risk of them turning into "warehouses for people." The report also noted problems with sanitary conditions and cases of violence. Inspector General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty Dominique Simonnot said in July that there were no nationwide measures to address the overcrowding problem.

France's Ministry of Justice plans to create 3,000 additional places in modular prisons, half of which are intended to be put into operation in 2027. At the same time, less than a third of the 15,000 places provided for by the 2018 national plan have been created.

According to Simonnot, "the construction of new facilities cannot serve as an adequate solution to the problem, given the current pace of growth in prison overcrowding." She believes that to eliminate overcrowding, a new correctional facility would have to be put into operation every six weeks.

According to the Council of Europe's 2025 assessment, France has one of the highest levels of prison overcrowding in Europe.