2. Actions taken in 2012 in response to the Public Assessments published in the Journal officiel We will not here return to the reasons for and content of the assessments, which are examined in the first section of this report. 2.1 The Assessment concerning Numbers of Prisoners published on 13 th June 2012 Following this assessment, the Law Commission of the French National Assembly created a special fact-finding mission on 25th September 2012, entrusted with the task of considering means of fighting against prison overcrowding “at the origin of a manifest deterioration of conditions of imprisonment, detrimental to the rehabilitation of convicted persons”. This fact-finding mission inspected several prisons and interviewed various actors and experts on criminal policy, including the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté. The conclusions of the work of this committee are due to be presented at the beginning of the year 2013. Moreover, in a Cabinet meeting of 19th September 2012, the Minister of Justice presented the circular addressed to Principal State Prosecutors and public prosecutors at courts of first instance, defining the new main lines of the Government’s criminal policy. Point 6 of this circular, which deals with reduced sentencing and enforcement of sentences, contains a paragraph (6.4) concerning “vigilance with regard to the situation of prison overcrowding”. This paragraph commences with the following sentence: “It should be ensured that the modes of enforcement of prison sentences take the state of overcrowding of prisons into account”. The Minister of Justice then advocates the virtues of a dynamic policy of reduced sentencing in close relation with the judges responsible for the execution of sentences and prison rehabilitation and probation departments. Although the Contrôleur général has had the occasion to express his satisfaction, he will nevertheless remain vigilant with regard to concrete actions resulting from this circular and practices drawn therefrom in institutions. 2.2 The Assessment concerning Partial Release published on 23 rd October 2012 On the same day as the publication of the Contrôleur général’s assessment, the Minister of Justice announced that the number of places in partial release and reduced sentencing would be more than doubled in the space of three years. “Within the framework of the three-yearly budget, [it] has decided to include the creation of 803 clear places in wings for reduced sentences [partial release and other reduced sentencing measures]” the Ministry of Justice indicated in a statement. The Minister of Justice wishes to increase the number of such places in order to improve conditions of execution of cases of partial release, since “partial release wings and open prisons are sometimes too isolated or overcrowded and therefore have difficulty in fulfilling their true function of rehabilitation”. The statement specifies that “most of the places will be created in city centres or in the outskirts of cities and, with regard to those which are not, it is planned to connect institutions to the urban area public transport network”, recalling that “renovation work” on dilapidated facilities is also in progress. The Minister of Justice stated that she “shared the conviction” of the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté with regard to the usefulness of partial release, for her part 84