NUMBER OF PRISONERS (OPINION) The time allocated to judges, the latter having had occasion to bring their questions in this respect to public attention, also deserves consideration. On the one hand, there is a striking dichotomy between the preparation of difficult cases for trial and criminal trials for which time is no object (Assize Court trials are longer today than in the past) and, on the other hand, the handling of the series of what are considered to be banal cases, which are nevertheless of decisive importance with regard to individual futures. Many persons encountered rightly or wrongly feel that they were not heard. Improved balance would be desirable. On the other hand, there is a lack of time for more invisible but nevertheless equally necessary occupations. These include the need to see the prison: admittedly, judges responsible for the execution of sentences and deputy public prosecutors in charge of the enforcement of sentences regularly go to the latter. But what about other judges, and in particular those who deliver prison sentences? “I am obliged to urge professionals to go and visit prisons” explains one renowned public prosecutor. The presence of members of the national legal service in prison should be increased alongside greater control on their part. Although the proportion of prisoners on remand within the prison population as a whole henceforth corresponds to the European average (it was long higher in France than elsewhere), in line with what is also being sought in Europe, efforts should be undertaken in order to substantially reduce use of pre-trial detention75 and develop alternatives (of the “house arrest” type in use elsewhere). The results and effectiveness of the legislative mechanisms that lead to the virtually automatic pronouncement of prison sentences (subject to special grounds) need to be closely examined, in accordance with the abovementioned criteria, in order to determine whether or not they should be maintained in the light of this examination. Similarly, the reduced sentencing policy, which for several years has been in turn promoted and limited, requires consideration. In this respect, the penitentiary law of 24th  November 2009 represents a real step forward which needs to be consolidated. A large increase in reduced sentencing is currently noted, in particular as part of the expansion of alternatives to imprisonment (which increased by almost cf. Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of 27th September 2006 (Rec (2006)13). 75 127