doctrine of the prisons administration has remained unchanged since 2003, that is to say strict application of the “closed doors” regime within long-stay prisons and wings of long-stay prisons. It should be noted that the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has tried, on numerous occasions, to alert the French government to “the necessity of providing prisoners serving long sentences with regimes offsetting the de-socialising effects of long-term imprisonment in a positive and proactive manner”188. 8.3 Diversion of the Right of Assignment From their first visits to institutions, the inspectors ascertain the presence in remand prisons, of convicted prisoners waiting to serve their sentences in suitable institutions, sometimes for several years. Cases have been referred to the Contrôleur Général on several occasions, by persons expressing their incomprehension and discouragement with regard to the waiting times for transfer to penal institutions for convicted prisoners. Accommodation in a long-term detention centre enables persons to have the benefit of more favourable conditions of imprisonment, specific prison support and even suitable medical care. With regard to conditions of detention in remand prisons, the question of assignment to a penal institution for convicted prisoners is particularly important for certain convicted persons serving medium or long-term sentences, who have already spent numerous years of detention in remand prisons. Conversely, certain persons wish to be kept in remand prisons in order to maintain their family ties and prepare for their rehabilitation in their region of origin. Article 88 of the Prisons Act of 24th of November 2009 introduces a right for persons with more than two years remaining to serve, to request transfer to a penal institution for convicted prisoners, within a period of nine months from the day on which their sentence becomes definitive. However, it allows convicted prisoners to be maintained in remand prisons when reduced sentencing is imminent. The waiting times for assignment to penal institutions for convicted prisoners result from three factors: putting the orientation file together, the assignment decision taken by the Interregional Department of Prison Services (DISP) or the central administration189 and the execution of the transfer properly speaking. 8.3.1 The Orientation Procedure In application of article D .75 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the orientation procedure [i.e. establishing a plan for the enforcement of the sentence] is compulsorily implemented for convicted prisoners with more than two years remaining to serve190. It is optional in other cases, in view, in particular, of the convicted prisoner’s personality, the 188 Report to the government of the French republic concerning the visit conducted in France by the CPT from 11th to 17 of June 2003. 189 The respective areas of authority of the interregional departments and of the Ministry of Justice are fixed by article D .80 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 190 Cf. below on absence of implementation of the orientation procedure in clear cases of imminent reduced sentencing. th 121