From Badinter to Darmanin, a clear regression

While the country can pride itself on having benefited from the action of a Minister of Justice who left a magnificent mark on History, Robert Badinter, it is highly unlikely that this will happen again with the current minister, Gérald Darmanin. The great man, who died last year, had prisons humanised from the early nineteen-eighties, proposed to the National Assembly the creation of the community service sentence (a vote for humanity), gave rehabilitation its full meaning and proposed to Parliament the abolition of the death penalty. Following his impetus, community-based supervision developed and partnerships were strengthened to put in place proactive policies for monitoring people under judicial supervision.

These orientations reached a kind of culmination with the reform of the Prison Integration and Probation Services in 1999.

Culture in prison

Thus, through the dynamic of opening up and extending partnerships, a joint policy for developing cultural action was pursued, and a first memorandum of understanding was signed between the Minister of Justice, Robert Badinter, and the Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, in 1986. “ For the Ministry of Justice, the aim is to prevent the difficulties of integration and reintegration that may be encountered by people entrusted to its services following a court decision, by encouraging the dissemination and deployment of cultural and artistic practices.”

Structuring community-based supervision

By decree of 14 March 1986, the functioning of community-based supervision had undergone a significant reform. The changes made brought about a structure that this sector sorely lacked. “Within the framework of the legislative provisions governing the enforcement of sentences in the community, which remain unchanged and in the light of which the provisions of the decree must be interpreted, the reform therefore essentially aims to strengthen the means available to the sentence enforcement judge for implementing the measures entrusted to him”.

Participation of the judicial institution in urban policy

Through a circular from Pierre Arpaillange, Keeper of the Seals, in 1989, and in continuation of the dynamic launched in the nineteen-eighties, it was necessary to develop links between State services and local authorities in order to act as closely as possible on the problems arising in the neighbourhoods: thus the concept of urban policy was born and took shape. The Minister of Justice, Henri Nallet, and the Minister for Urban Affairs, Michel Delebarre, at a conference at the École nationale de la magistrature in Paris, affirmed their shared desire to work together.

Maintaining family ties

“Maintaining family ties for incarcerated people is a decisive factor in their reintegration. Welcoming families can contribute to this to a large extent. In this respect, all the stakeholders of the town where a prison is located are concerned, in order to limit the segregating effect of incarceration on prisoners’ families.” In this context, it was proposed to encourage the setting up, close to the prison, of reception facilities run by associations, offering a variety of services. This approach relied on the mobilisation and commitment of many volunteers.

Agreement on objectives with the FNARS

On 11 July 1989, an agreement on objectives was signed between the Fédération nationale des associations de réinsertion sociale (FNARS), represented by its president, Gabriel Hardy, and the Ministry of Justice, represented by Pierre Arpaillange. At the time, the FNARS brought together four hundred associations and five thousand volunteers, and took in one hundred thousand people in precarious situations each year. This partnership is essential in terms of integration, housing, training...

National agreement with the ANPE

Regularly, for a good thirty years, a framework agreement was signed between the Ministry of Justice and the management of the ANPE, and later with Pôle emploi. This partnership aimed to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners, broaden the vocational reintegration measures for people under judicial supervision and give them access to mainstream services.

Framework agreement between the Union des missions locales and the Ministry of Justice

A framework agreement has been renewed regularly since 1994 between the Union nationale des missions locales and the Ministry of Justice, to enable young people under judicial supervision to access mainstream services and thus prepare their social and vocational integration or reintegration. This joint policy makes a full contribution to preventing reoffending

Community service

In 1993, a first review of the community service sentence was organised. Pierre Méhaignerie, Keeper of the Seals, put it this way: “Community service appears more than ever as an innovative sentence in the French and European penal system; the diversity of its legal forms, the originality of how it is imposed, which requires the consent of the defendant, and its arrangements, which involve the participation of civil society, have contributed to the transformation of positive law, of judicial practices and, I would add, of the meaning and content of the sanction.” The slogan for this tenth anniversary of the sentence was: “Community service is ten years old, and the result is worth the sentence”.

Presumption of Innocence Act

In June 2000, Elisabeth Guigou promulgated the Presumption of Innocence Act, which placed the enforcement of sentences under judicial control.

Senate report on prisons

“Une humiliation pour la République”: A Senate commission of inquiry into prisons found the French prison system in a deplorable state and pointed in particular to the continuous rise in the prison population, detention conditions, the lack of resources for reintegration, poor access to healthcare...

Act creating the office of Inspector General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty

In February 2000, the office of Inspector General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty was created. This measure, essential under the rule of law, allowed the appointment of an independent administrative authority responsible for monitoring the conditions in which persons deprived of their liberty are held and transferred.

The beginnings of the reform

Pierre Méhaignerie, at the sitting of 4 July in the National Assembly, presented his programme as follows: “The government is going to place the emphasis on measures carried out in the community, community service, suspended sentences with probation. These measures are little used for lack of supervisory structures(…) If we want to avoid unnecessary incarcerations, we must provide ourselves with the means to do so. The number of community social workers will be doubled in five years.”

The creation of the Prison Integration and Probation Services

Under way since 1994, the reform of the Prison Integration and Probation Services was taking shape: in 1999, Elisabeth Guigou, Keeper of the Seals, presented these new services as follows: “To better carry out these missions, to develop strong synergy between prison staff and community social workers, and to guarantee magistrates better enforcement of the decisions they hand down, I have decided to create the Prison Integration and Probation Services.”. More than 25 years later, this public justice service has proved its efficiency, even though a colossal lack of human and financial resources is to be deplored.

The texts of the Perben 2 law

While some parts of the law “portant adaptation de la Justice aux évolutions de la criminalité” were implemented in stages over time, the part concerning “the new sentence adjustment procedure”, known as NPAP, gave rise to a decree on the conditions for its implementation. Stemming directly from the Warsmann report, this component, a kind of “exit airlock”, was a cultural revolution.

“In principle, this new mechanism allowed people sentenced to one or more sentences of between six months and five years to serve the last months of detention under a sentence adjustment (day release, outside placement, electronic monitoring).” These measures were to cover the last three months if the sentence was between six months and two years, and the last six months if the sentence was between two and five years.

The development of sentence adjustments

In her speech of 25 July 2007, Rachida Dati stated that she wished to “give real impetus to the policy of sentence adjustment. (…) Releases without support encourage reoffending. Encouraging sentence adjustments means fostering reintegration.”

The so-called “Taubira” law

This major text, promulgated during Hollande’s five-year term, concerned the individualisation of sentences and the strengthening of criminal penalties. Christiane Taubira was fully in line with what Robert Badinter had initiated.

Report of the Inspector General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty, February 2018

“Les droits fondamentaux à l’épreuve de la surpopulation carcérale”

Announcement of the prison system reform plan by the President of the Republic

Serving sentences of less than six months outside prison

The creation of a Community Service agency.

One thousand five hundred prison integration and probation officers will be recruited

Programming Act 2018-2022

To avoid short sentences, it was decided that prison sentences of less than one month would be prohibited. Emphasis was placed on serving short sentences under day release, outside placement and home detention under electronic monitoring.

Condemnation by the European Court of Human Rights

In 2020, France was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights because of prison overcrowding and detention conditions deemed inhuman and degrading.

A disastrous turning point

In recent years, and particularly since Gérald Darmanin became Minister of Justice, a serious form of regression has been observed. The objectives are no longer the same, and what had, for more than forty years, been on an upward curve with gradual progress towards a positive and efficient approach is being genuinely called into question.

It is urgent to stop this insane spiral that would consist of responding to a security problem by the inexorable creation of prison places and an increase in populist and demagogic statements. It should be remembered that the cost of prison is exorbitant, for very relative usefulness, while solutions exist that ought to be promoted.

Recently, we have seen a clear step backwards in the government’s justice policy, with the announcement of orientations that call into question the work of the Justice Minister’s predecessors, whatever their political affiliation.

Going back on activities in detention

The Minister of Justice has announced that he wants to abolish some of the activities in prison. This restrictive decision runs counter to the texts, and in particular to the protocols established between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture. Prisoners have the right to take part in cultural and artistic activities. “It is wrong to abolish such activities provided for by law”. This announcement is all the more incoherent as participation in activities in prison was strongly encouraged until now. It should be remembered that activities help people gradually regain their place in society.

Wanting short sentences to be served in prison

Announcing on every channel and in every media outlet that short sentences will from now on be served in prison reflects a complete ignorance of the issue and is a pointless and counter-productive approach. The approach pursued by previous Ministers of Justice included a principle of seeking efficiency in terms of preventing reoffending. This decision likewise runs counter to the measures announced by the President of the Republic in the Prison System Reform Plan.

Horizon group’s proposal to reinstate short sentences of less than one month

This announcement by the MPs of the Horizon group is part of the same demagogic and pointless logic adopted by the Minister of Justice

Researchers who have looked into the question of reoffending in recent years have highlighted the merits of measures such as outside placement, day release and home detention under electronic monitoring.

Christian DANIEL^[1]

As a former director of the Prison Integration and Probation Services of Essonne, Hautes de Seine and Morbihan, and an author of essays, I wish today to express my anger at seeing, in just a few months, everything I believed in and to which I devoted my professional life being scuttled in the name of populist demagogy, to the detriment of the mission of preventing reoffending and against the people under supervision and the victims. I expect from the President of the Republic the impetus needed for the proper functioning of Justice and the adoption of a humanist approach in the actions that will be implemented.

The opinions expressed in this opinion piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of BAM!

Standfirst and illustration by BAM!

[1] Christian DANIEL, former director of the Prison Integration and Probation Services, author of: “Probation, Insertion , les deux axes d’une politique ambitieuse de prévention de la récidive”, “Agissons aujourd’hui afin que demain soit encore possible”, “Une clique au pouvoir”...