OPINIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FRENCH CGLPL “implies the freedom to access such services”. This freedom is especially important for persons held in custody in that, since they are denied their freedom to come and go, and thus denied many of the facilities that this entails, the Internet represents an excellent way of accessing much of the information emanating from the outside world (the media, training, job adverts, administrative formalities, education, games and information of various kinds). Needless to say, in the case of persons held in custody, this freedom is subject to the same restrictions as any other freedoms not withheld from them by the courts. It has to be reconciled with requirements linked to security, law and order, the future of such detainees and to victims’ rights. This reconciliation process will result in these requirements being met, provided that any resulting restrictions or bans are indeed necessary and proportionate to the risks posed in these areas. 3/ This is not currently the case. Since the Decree of 20th March 2003,45 Article D. 449-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has stipulated that persons held in custody are entitled to purchase computer equipment, but the methods and characteristics of such purchases shall be decided by the authorities in the form of a general instruction; it also stipulates that documents can be kept in electronic format solely for the purposes of training, education and socio-cultural activity; and finally – in a provision whose legality is far from being obvious – it specifies that in some cases, this equipment may be confiscated by the authorities until such time as the purchaser has completed their sentence, solely on the basis of the “written observations” gathered under Article  4 of the Law of 12th  April 2000.46 The “general instruction” took the form of French decree n°2003-259 of 20 th March 2003 modifying Article D. 449-1 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ affichCodeArticle.do;jsessionid=7E0C073E7D5B930C4AA68B9B0A580F56.tpdjo08v_ 1?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006071154&idArticle=LEGIARTI000006516400&dateText e=29990101&categorieLien=cid (in French). 46 French law n°2000-321 of 12th April 2000 on rights of the citizens and their relationship with administration: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidT exte=LEGITEXT000005629288 (in French). To be compared with Article R. 57-7-33 of the same code, which provides for confiscation, for up to one month, of computer equipment purchased by the detainee, in the wake of disciplinary proceedings. 45 100