Chapter 4 Action taken in 2016 in response to the cases referred to the Chief Inspectorate In accordance with the prevention mission delegated to the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté, processing case referrals helps to identify the existence of any violations of the fundamental rights of people deprived of liberty, and to prevent their re-occurrence. With this in mind, the inspectors in charge of the referrals conduct verifications of documents and ask for observations from the authorities responsible for the facility in question – pursuant to the adversarial principle. They also conducted on-site verifications where applicable. The reports written following these inspections also go through the due adversarial procedure with the authorities responsible. The recommendations stemming from this procedure are aimed at safeguarding the right balance between respect for the fundamental rights of prisoners and the public order and security requirements that such places must naturally fulfil. The priority for the Chief Inspector in this instance, in the same way as during inspection missions, is to initiate a dialogue aimed at improving institutional practices and thinking on the way in which people deprived of liberty are treated – in strict respect of their fundamental rights. Every year, multiple violations of the fundamental rights of people deprived of liberty are identified through accounts from people who reach out to the Chief Inspector. The local examples that have been presented in this chapter all lift the lid on a general problem concerning the way things are operated and run. They demonstrate the wide range of fundamental rights concerned: rights of defence, right to privacy, right to maintain family ties, right to dignity, etc. These violations are sometimes the result of negligence due to a lack of thought in the way something is done, or to a long-standing practice in the institutions concerned, or of practices that deliberately disrespect the rights of prisoners that these institutions are nevertheless supposed to protect. 1. Preventing violations of fundamental rights through case referrals and local examples 1.1 Guaranteeing rights during placement in administrative detainment The Chief Inspector was referred a case by a lawyer on the conditions in which an identity check was carried out, boulevard de la Villette in Paris, in the 19 th arrondissement: an identity check had been carried out on some twenty people, followed by administrative detainment for verification of their rights to residence, lasting several hours, in sweltering heat and the most basic of physical conditions, with no possibility of sitting down, in the inner courtyard of the building of the Public Order and Traffic Department (DOPC), before being issued notification of placement in detention and taken to the Detention centre for illegal immigrants (CRA) of Vincennes. The interviews between the lawyers and detainees had taken place on a bench in the courtyard, under conditions that in no way guaranteed the confidentiality of the interview. 69