The severity of the regime to which a prisoner is subjected may depend on their personality or dangerousness. The law does not define the differences in treatment to which they will be subjected under these regimes.
The designation of “high-risk prisoner” (DPS) was introduced in 1967. It serves to categorise certain prisoners based on their assumed threat level or escape risk. This classification includes individuals linked to organised crime, designated as posing a risk to public order, likely to commit assault or escape, as well as considered oppositional or particularly undisciplined. The decision to add, maintain, or remove prisoners from this list falls to the Minister of Justice. Consequently, specific security measures are implemented, such as assigning prisoners to cells close to guard stations, enforcing stringent monitoring both day and night, intensifying vigilance during inspection and search operations, and conducting thorough reviews of all applications to participate in prison activities. Each DPS may be given a personal directive at the facility level, introducing additional precautions (individual cell, strengthened escort during movement, regular reports, etc.). Annually, the DPS system applies to between 200 and 250 prisoners.¹²
A report issued in May 2023 references 225 high-risk prisoners (DPS) among a total of 73,000 prisoners. This document was produced following a parliamentary committee established to investigate the 2022 death of Yvan Colonna in Arles prison. The report highlights that “the legal framework of the DPS registry is at the regulatory level and lacks a clear definition in legislation”. It points out numerous malfunctions and states that the DPS status “is not intended to be inherently permanent”. The report proposes 29 recommendations to reform this status, including revisiting the criteria for inclusion in the DPS registry and ensuring greater clarity in the justification for an individual’s inclusion.

The search conditions of incarcerated individuals and the inspections of their loved ones, required during visits, are problematic for some. Some inmates refuse visits from their loved ones so as to shield them from these procedures.

A guard at the Varenne-le-Grand detention centre forced a lawyer to remove her bra and place it in a locker before being allowed to see her client. At least three other lawyers reported identical experiences in July and August 2021. In August 2020, the director of the prison service called requests to disrobe a breach of the officer’s ethical duties, stating that the officer in question should be corrected or even reprimanded.

In theory, the time spent in an emergency protection cell (CproU) cannot exceed 24 hours. However, it is not uncommon for a prisoner placed in a CproU on a Friday night to spend the weekend there.

A prisoner was held in isolation for 32 months. He claimed that he was subject to inhuman and degrading treatment and feels that his right to privacy was violated, stating that the reasons for his isolation were not sufficiently justified. The European Court of Human Rights questioned France over these events.