The deputy security warden has sole discretion in deciding on the assignment of cells to prisoners. There is no right to appeal.
Cells are assigned according to availability. Other criteria include the separation of women and men and that of minors and adults.

Prisoners awaiting trial can meet their lawyer without a member of the prison staff present.¹ Visits in pre-trial custody are authorised in advance by judicial authorities. For misdemeanours and infractions, visit permits are issued by the department of the public prosecutor. For more serious crimes, they are granted by the investigating judge and the indictment chamber. The permits are valid for 24 hours. A lawyer must submit a new request for each visit. This time-consuming process hinders the efficacy and smooth-functioning of the service. Some lawyers request continuous visit permits, namely for foreign nationals and those charged with serious offences.

With authorisation from the DGPR, convicted prisoners may meet with their lawyers under the supervision of a member of the prison staff. This prison employee is expected to keep sufficient distance during the meeting so as to ensure the confidentiality of the exchange.

In the event of the death of a prisoner, the prison governor immediately informs the prisoner’s family. A public health doctor delivers the death certificate and makes themselves available to the prisoner’s family.¹

Regulations prohibit government employees from inflicting any physical or emotional harm on prisoners¹:

• law 82-70 of 6 August 1982
• decree no. 2014-4030 of 3 October 2014

Intent to obtain a confession or other information and racial discrimination are effectively the only factors that may qualify an act as an instance of torture. As a result, victims customarily file complaints of ‘violence’.
Punishments for threats, intimidation, or other forms of emotional abuse are less severe than those for physical abuse.

Since 2014, in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the DGPR has provided training to prison physicians on the identification of signs of torture.

Healthcare for prisoners is under the administration of the Ministry of Justice. Human rights organisations criticise the lack of independence of prison medical services. They identify this as a cause of the impunity that law enforcement officers benefit from when facing accusations of torture and abuse. According to these organisations, forensic examinations are not undertaken rigorously. Doctors have no training in documenting signs of abuse or torture. Police reports are sometimes substituted in the absence of medical reports.

Though the large dormitories help to limit the number of suicide attempts, this is not the case for self-harm, for which rates remain high.
Families wishing to file a complaint after the death of a loved one in custody or prison report that it is difficult to do so.

Prisoners may file complaints, provide descriptions, and file reports, complaints or appeals.

A complaint may require “the prison authorities to be interviewed to inform them that a prisoner’s rights have not been respected; for example, the right to receive a parental visit”.

A report “means an escalation to a supervisory body regarding a problem, mistreatment or, more generally, an unsatisfactory situation for the prisoner making the report, or for another prisoner. Examples include not being provided with a bed in the prison cell or not being permitted to participate in activities”.

In the event of administrative error and/or criminal offence, a complaint allows “the instigators to be identified, allows the claimant to request protection and compensation, and launches an investigation process. The term ‘appeal’ describes a formal challenge, in the presence of a judge, by a prisoner, in respect of a decision taken against him“.¹ Complaints are made directly by prisoners or, in exceptional cases, by a third party, who may be a close friend/relative, a lawyer, or a human rights organisation. Complaint boxes are made available near the prison cells. They are collected twice per week by the prison director, and complaints must receive a response within ten days. The complainant must log his fingerprint to receive his response.²

Prisoners can complain to:

• The prison director, the DGPR or the Ministry of Justice
• The judicial authorities or the administrative tribunal
• The various independent external control bodies such as the INPT or INDH¹

Most complaints are addressed to the General Director of the DGPR. Following this, they instruct the Inspection of Prison Services to conduct an enquiry.
Complaints which are addressed to the judicial authorities, in particular to the Ministry of Justice, are passed on to the General Inspectorate or to the Office of the Penitentiary System and for Rehabilitation. The latter may conduct site visits to evaluate the prison conditions.

The INPT is accessible to prisoners, prison staff, and external agents.

The sentence execution judge (juge d’exécution des peines, JEP) grants conditional release, following the judgment of the public prosecutor, for sentences of less than eight months (Article 342A of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
Decisions pertaining to sentences longer than eight months are passed to the Minister of Justice. Releases are granted by decree, following the recommendation of the parole board (Article 356 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

The Law of 14 May 2001 does not specify the procedures for authorising temporary absences.

A pardon can reduce the length of the sentence, or replace it with a less serious penalty (for example, capital punishment may be commuted to life imprisonment).
Presidential pardons are issued regularly, especially during national holidays. These pardons may benefit thousands of prisoners. The DGPR provides a list of eligible prisoners to the Ministry of Justice. The Pardons Commission examines each case and presents the final list to the President of the Republic.
As part of the pardons procedure, the personal files of eligible prisoners are examined.