(Feb. 26, 2020) On January 30, 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (E.C.H.R.) found that France was in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights because of poor conditions of detention in several prisons.
The decision in J.M.B. and Others v. France was in response to petitions brought by 32 inmates of several French prisons. These inmates complained of overcrowding and unsanitary environments, alleging that these conditions infringed article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” and article 8, which protects the right to privacy. The petitioners also alleged that the French government had violated article 13, which guarantees the right to an effective remedy, because a French court that had found that their rights had been violated was unable to order an effective remedy. The European Court of Human Rights found in favor of the defendants with regard to articles 3 and 13. The Court, however, declined to examine the claims under article 8 on the grounds that doing so was unnecessary after the Court’s finding France in violation of article 3.
As this case highlights, overcrowding is a major problem in French prisons. The Court noted, for example, that the Fresnes short-stay prison, located near Paris, had an occupancy rate of 197% on January 1, 2019, while the Nîmes short-stay prison, in southern France, had an occupancy rate of 205%. As a result of this overcrowding, the applicants experienced very congested conditions, with only 3 square meters (approximately 32 square feet) per person on average. Additionally, all of the applicants complained about the proximity of their cell’s dining area to the toilets, which were only separated from the rest of the cell by a curtain. They also complained about the insalubrious state of their cells, which were inadequately ventilated and infested by rodents and insects. Some of the inmates also complained about insufficient light, inadequate healthcare, and a climate of tension and violence. Furthermore, all of the applicants were locked up for between 15 and 22 hours a day.
The Court found that these conditions violated the European Convention of Human Rights’ guarantee against inhuman or degrading treatment, and held that France was to pay damages to the applicants, in sums ranging from 4,000 euros (approximately US$4,400) to 25,000 euros (US$27,500) depending on the individual claims. The Court also recognized that the nature of the problem made it difficult for judges—whether of the E.C.H.R. or domestic French courts—to effectively remedy this breach of rights in a timely manner. Indeed, the Court described the overcrowding of French prisons as a “structural phenomenon,” and called on the French government to consider adopting general measures to improve conditions of detention. The Court also recognized that the French government had embarked on a long-term effort to improve prison conditions, and some results were already visible. For example, the Ducos Prison, the only prison on the French island of Martinique, had an occupancy rate of 213.7% in the short-stay section and 124.6% in the rest of the prison in 2015. By January 1, 2019, following renovations and the construction of a new building, the occupancy rates had diminished to 134% in the short-stay section and 86% in the rest of the prison. However, renovation of French prisons and expansion of French prison projects is a multiyear undertaking. The French government aims to have constructed, by 2027, 15,000 new prison places over the number available in 2018. Seven thousand of these new places should be available by 2022. Until then, however, the overall conditions of French prisons are likely to remain poor.