The ministerial communication will certainly reignite the issue of the Nice prison, which everyone deems decrepit and is at the center of a heated controversy between the former mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, and a local residents’ association: the former, after many differing versions, has advocated for on-site renovation, while the latter are demanding a relocation to the Var plain.
Quite recently, the Ministry has taken a Pontius Pilate role, asking local authorities to indicate their chosen solution. But, of course, there will be no choice!
Can you imagine that Christian Estrosi is going to take the heat off the government during an electoral campaign? He will let the Ministry take on the responsibility, and then he’ll… strike hard.
General interest, where are you? This is how it is and no other way!
The Minister of Justice, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, announced this Tuesday that between 10,000 and 16,000 new cells need to be built by 2025 to end prison overcrowding. The goal of one prisoner per cell, embedded in the law for 140 years, has never been achieved.
According to Jean-Jacques Urvoas, between 10,309 and 16,143 new cells need to be built by January 1, 2025, to enable the widespread availability of individual accommodation in prisons. The idea is to ultimately have French prisons with 80% individual cells.
To follow through with this plan, Jean-Jacques Urvoas announced that he would request 1.1 billion euros in the 2017 finance bill to start the initial renovation and construction works for penitentiary establishments.
A budget that must be used to finance the construction of 4,355 places in remand centers in Paris, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, Midi-Pyrénées, and the greater West, with an allocation of 900 million euros. It will also allow the creation of 2,513 places in prisoner rehabilitation units (QPS) for 230 million. This last program includes the requalification of twelve existing units and the creation of sixteen new structures.
