Overview

• French prisons currently house 82,152 detainees in facilities designed for 62,539, with over 4,500 inmates sleeping on floors due to overcrowding.
• The government plans to build 3,000 modular prison places, split between semi-liberté facilities and short-sentence structures, targeting less dangerous inmates.
• Justice Minister Darmanin has scheduled two tender calls for May and June to expedite construction, with completion projected by 2027-2028.
• Modular facilities are expected to cut costs per prison place from €350,000 to €200,000, drawing on successful models from Germany and England.
• The first modular facility, a 50-place structure in Troyes-Lavau, is slated for delivery by autumn 2026, marking a significant step in addressing the crisis.