Foreword At the end of an interview given at close of his term of office, Jean-Marie Delarue mentioned the situation of a prisoner, Claude, who was sent to the punishment wing on 23rd December, where he committed suicide on the 24th: “The visit by the inspector of prisons having manifestly been used to inflict a punishment that was out of all proportion upon a man who must have caused annoyance. A disciplinary investigation is underway. As far as I am concerned, this case is not and shall never be finished” 1. This affair moved me deeply. It confirmed the importance of the responsibility entrusted to me, as the new Contrôleure générale des lieux de privation de liberté, it henceforth being incumbent upon me to ensure that this case is followed up in the necessary manner, and not forgotten and allowed to sink into obscurity. In application of article 13, paragraph 5 of the Constitution 2, my candidature for appointment as the new Contrôleure générale des lieux de privation de liberté was put forward by the President of the French Republic and submitted to the Presidents of the French National Assembly and Senate. After favourable votes from the respective Law Commissions of the National Assembly and Senate, the French President decided upon my appointment to the position of Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté at the Cabinet meeting of 16th July 2014, on a proposal from the Minister of Justice (garde des sceaux). Before my appointment, this procedure thus led me to set out the lines of policy that I intended to defend before the Law Commissions of the National Assembly and the Senate. The Law Commission of the National Assembly organised a questionnaire, at the initiative of its president, which was made public prior to this hearing; an essential procedure for openness that corresponds to one of the major lines of policy pursued during my predecessor’s term of office. It appears in an annexe to this report. In this foreword, I wish to emphasise at the outset the tremendous work accomplished by Jean-Marie Delarue. Furthermore, at the time of taking up my duties, I am moved in the first place by a deep feeling of respect. As an introduction to this annual report, it is incumbent upon me to give an assessment of the year 2014, a large part of which was completed under Jean-Marie Delarue’s authority. The work that has been undertaken since the latter’s appointment in 2008 is considerable. Thanks to Jean-Marie Delarue, an institution of a new kind has taken its place in our country’s institutional landscape. This institution, which belongs to the category of independent government agencies with specific regulatory powers, has progressively brought issues into public debate that were hitherto circumscribed to a limited number of circles, concerning those subjected to deprivation of liberty, as well as professionals and activists. Jean-Marie Delarue thus succeeded in giving real meaning to the independence essential to the Contrôleur Général’s action, by setting the expected level of fundamental requirements. 1 Libération, 6th June 2014: “L’humanité mise aux arrêts” “An Institutional Act shall determine the posts or positions, other than those mentioned in the third paragraph, concerning which, on account of their importance in the guarantee of the rights and freedoms or the economic and social life of the Nation, the power of appointment of the President of the Republic shall be exercised after public consultation with the relevant standing committee in each assembly. The President of the Republic may not make an appointment when the sum of the negative votes in each committee represents at least three fifths of the votes cast by the two committees. Statutes shall determine the relevant standing committees according to the posts or positions concerned.” 2 11