Reproduced by kind permission of the Editor from ‘French News’ under the by-line of Robert Harneis, some quotes pertinent to drivers passing through France taken from a long article dealing with all aspects of the French penal system. And as promised a link to the forum associated with the paper french-news.com/forum/
“The ‘country of human rights’ is in shock over its squalid prisons. The combination of a fiercely critical report by Alvaro Gil-Robles, the European Commissioner for Human Rights and the wrongful imprisonment of the Outreau 13 has had a strong effect on public opinion.”
“Overcrowding is particularly bad in some prisons, with black spots like Lyon where there is 230% occupancy. It is common for five prisoners to share a cell of only nine square metres that is designed for four at the most. One of them sleeps on a mattress on the floor. Prisoners are often confined for 23 hours a day.”
“…However, he (the Minister for Justice) accepts that a major defect is the length of time prisoners spend awaiting trial and is working to cut this by appointing more judges.”
And in a panel at the end of Robert’s report:
“There are some 100 British citizens in French prisons, of whom seven are women. Most are UK residents convicted of drug offences. The charity Prisoners Abroad provides valuable help. Organisers told us that, once convicted, most Britons are held at Longuenesse in the north of France to make it easier for families to visit. Prisoners of the same nationality share cells.
Ignorance of French legal procedures and the language can make things difficult…
British prisoners’ comments indicate that the conditions in France are similar to England, with overcrowding and poor food a constant theme.”
And a few figures for comparison, in France there are 88 prisoners per 100,000 of the population.
In Britain 143, and in the USA 724.
Does this mean that in Britain and the US there are more crimos, or simply that in France we let them wander about more? 
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