French prisons criticised

Europe’s top human rights watchdog sharply criticised France’s law enforcement and jail systems in a report today, saying prisons throughout the country were overcrowded and in a bad state.

The report, drafted by the Council of Europe’s outgoing Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles, also criticised police for operating with a sense of impunity, and said the French judicial system suffered from a “glaring lack of resources".