Chapter 5 Assessment of the work of the Chief Inspector of places of deprivation of liberty in 2017 1. Relations with public authorities and other legal entities 1.1 Relations with public authorities 1.1.1 The President of the Republic As is the case every year, the Chief Inspector submitted the annual report for the previous year to the President of the Republic in March 2017. On 16 October, she was received by the President of the Republic elected in May 2017. On this occasion, she drew his attention to the need to establish a policy for easing prison overcrowding, without which the prison authorities will be unable to perform their reintegration role over the long-term. To that end, she recommended to the President of the Republic that a prison regulation procedure be set up for locally managing imprisonment and release measures in a concerted manner between all of the stakeholders in the criminal justice chain, and with account taken of the prison authorities' reception capacities. She also encouraged him to initiate a discussion on the purpose of short sentences and that of sentences enforced a very long time after the offences were committed. Furthermore, she asked him to develop alternatives to imprisonment as well as means for providing care for prisoners with mental problems or suffering from chronic disorders. In the psychiatry sphere, she shared with the President of the Republic her concerns about the diversity of provision methods and ensuing violations of rights. Finally, she voiced her concerns over the toughening of the administrative detention policy for irregular migrants. She particularly drew attention to the regressive and unnecessary nature of the doubling of the maximum detention time-limit, which is due to be increased from 45 to 90 days, and the shocking nature of the surge in the number of children currently being placed in detention with their families. 1.1.2 The Government Pursuant to the new provisions of the 20 January 2017 Act on the general status of independent government agencies and independent public authorities, the Chief Inspector has, for the first time, submitted the CGLPL's annual report to the Prime Minister, on 28 March 2017. She also submitted it, as usual, to the Minister of Social Affairs and Health and the Minister of Justice, prior to the presidential elections. She then met with the members of the appointed Government in June 2017. The Minister for Solidarity and Health (28 August). On the subject of psychiatry, the Chief Inspector referred to the negative repercussions of the diversity of provision methods on respect for patients' rights, the still inadequate control of use of 101