OPINIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FRENCH CGLPL Correspondence addressed to the medical staff must only be delivered by the vaguemestre. Any mail from the UCSA or SMPR to prisoners is always private and cannot be opened. 10/ Correspondence exempt from inspection (Articles D.  69 and D. 262 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) may never be opened. If such correspondence is opened in error, it should be closed according to the procedure described in point 9 above. This requirement does not apply when there is no external indication of the protected nature of the correspondence. The number of errors of this type constitutes an indicator of the quality of the vaguemestres' work. From the point of view of correspondence, no distinction needs to be made between administrative authorities referred to in Article A. 40 of the CPP and the lawyer representing the prisoner in a trial. Correspondence they send, or that is sent to them, should be treated identically. The register referred to in the last paragraph of Article D.  262 should be signed within 24  hours by the prisoner for each item of correspondence received or sent. This formality is carried out under the supervision of the vaguemestre. 11/ When correspondence is flagged for possible retention by the vaguemestre, the final decision to retain it can only be made by the head of the establishment or his assistant, specifically delegated for this purpose. 12/ These rules, which the Contrôleur général has already observed in some of the establishments it visits, and which should be systematised, do not require any modification of the code in force, with the exception of a new provision binding vaguemestres to secrecy. 13/ They should be applied as soon as possible, pending further studies of methods to enhance the balance between security imperatives and the secrecy of correspondence. 28