By Observatoire International des Prisons – Section française
In May 2026, France’s Supreme Administrative Court suspended an instruction from the Minister of Justice ordering the suspension of all temporary leave granted to prisoners to enable them to take part in sporting or cultural activities. This order followed the partial annulment, a year earlier in May 2025, of a previous ministerial instruction aimed at banning the organisation of so-called ‘recreational or provocative’ activities in prison.
By an order dated 5 May 2026, the highest administrative court (the Council of State), sitting as the interim relief judge, suspended the instruction issued by the Minister of Justice ordering the cessation of all temporary leave allowing prisoners to take part in sporting or cultural activities (No. 514387, 5 May 2026). On 13 March 2026, following the escape of a prisoner during a cultural outing to the Louvre Museum, the Minister had sent an email to the prison service, requesting that temporary leave for cultural and sporting activities be suspended in order to prevent the risk of escape. This instruction halted ongoing projects designed to support prisoners in their reintegration into society and prevented the organisation of any new outings. Several civil society organisations, including the Observatoire International des Prisons – Section française (International Observatory of Prisons – French Section), as well as prison staff unions, challenged this instruction before the Council of State.
The Council of State found the decision to be unlawful, noting that the Minister had breached “the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure governing temporary leave for cultural or sporting activities, [by ruling out] as a matter of principle the organisation of such outings”. The Council of State held that the Minister’s decision constituted a serious infringement “of the interests of prisoners eligible for day release by depriving them of the benefit of these measures provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure”, but also “of the public interest in supporting convicted persons with a view to their professional and social reintegration”. The Council of State further emphasised that the Minister’s decision was all the more unjustified given that “the number of escapes during day release for cultural or sporting activities is extremely low”.
The Minister’s instruction marks a second attempt to restrict socio-cultural activities offered to prisoners. In early 2025, a previous instruction had already banned so-called ‘recreational or provocative’ activities in prison, before being partially annulled by the Council of State following an appeal lodged by various civil society organisations.
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