Overview

• The Constitutional Council upheld the law’s core isolation regime for the most dangerous narcotraffickers, confirming the creation of high-security prison quarters.
• Judges imposed a reserve on full-body searches, allowing them only when surveillance by a prison officer is prevented by privacy concerns or operational constraints.
• Six articles were censored, halting algorithmic intelligence trials, direct tax data access for security services, the distinct procès-verbal secrecy mechanism and the blanket use of videoconferencing in high-security cells.
• Remote activation of electronic devices for eavesdropping was validated but confined to organized gang offenses punishable by at least five years of imprisonment.
• France plans to open its first high-security unit under the new law at Vendin-le-Vieil prison by late July.