Texts included in this collection Opinion "In his or her area of competence, the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté shall issue opinions, […] and propose to the Government any amendment to applicable legislative and regulatory provisions. After having informed the authorities responsible, he may publish these opinions […]." (Art. 10 law of 30th October 2007)3 An opinion is a document on any thematic issue, summarising the observations made by the Contrôleur général and his team following all their visits to places of detentions. Recommendation After having sent the visit report to the Ministries concerned and taken note of their comments in response, the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté can formulate recommendations which he has the right to make public. In this way recommendations that are relevant to a group of places of detention (beyond the one visited) are published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française. Urgent recommendation Article 9 of the law of 30 October 2007 gives the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté the right, if he observes a serious infringement of the fundamental rights of the persons deprived of liberty, to promptly notify the competent authorities of his observations, giving them a period within which to respond. At the end of this period he determines whether the infringement notified has ceased and if he deems necessary, he can publish the contents of his observations and the responses received. 3 French law n°2007-1545 of 30 th October 2007 establishing a Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté: http://www.cglpl.fr/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ Loi_CGLPL_EUK-v.pdf 5

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