Gérald Darmanin Outlines Justice Reforms on Garde à Vue and Prison Overhaul

The new Justice Minister proposes extending garde à vue for severe sexual violence cases and introducing smaller detention centers to address systemic issues.

Gérald Darmanin has proposed extending the maximum duration of garde à vue from 48 to 72 hours for cases involving aggravated sexual violence and feminicides, aiming to better protect victims and enhance investigative processes.
He announced plans for 'operations place nette' in prisons to tackle issues such as illicit phone use by inmates, including generalizing phone signal jammers across all facilities.
Darmanin advocates for the creation of smaller, 'human-scale' detention centers dedicated to short-term sentences, with the goal of improving sentence execution and reducing recidivism.
France's prison system faces severe overcrowding, with over 80,000 inmates for 62,000 available places, leading to a density of 128.5% and persistent criticism from human rights organizations.
Critics question the feasibility and effectiveness of these proposals, citing the high costs of prison construction and the need for broader penal reforms to address systemic challenges.