Overview

• Prison directors from the SNDP-Cfdt issued a rare public warning on June 19 that facilities are approaching a collapse point due to extreme inmate numbers.
• Official Justice Ministry figures show 83,681 inmates were held in 62,570 places as of May 1, 2025, representing a global prison density of 133.7%.
• Overcrowding has created undignified living conditions for detainees, endangered the safety of prison staff, and undermined the goal of inmate reintegration.
• Directors plan to deliver an urgent action-plan motion to the Justice Ministry on June 20, demanding immediate government measures to relieve the crisis.
• Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau’s early-June proposals for radical sentence reforms have drawn criticism from prison leaders who say they could aggravate existing problems.