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French

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10670/1.v6gxas

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‘What legal response to a material shortage in the context of prisons in times of global pandemic’, note under T.A. Lyon, 22 April 2020, No 2002758

Abstract

National hearing ‘What legal response to a material shortage in the context of prisons in times of global pandemic?’ T.A. Lyon, 22 April 2020, No 2002758 Note from Agathe CHIROSSEL Doctorante in public law University Clermont Auvergne (CM-EA 4232) An application to the judge hearing the application for interim measures questioned the violation of the fundamental rights of detainees during the pandemic due to their conditions of imprisonment. In its order, the court does not consider the adverse effect established by the lack of resources on the part of the administration, which does not allow it to make additional material arrangements. COVID-19 disrupted the French legal order, particularly as early as 16 March 2020 when the lockdown of the population was announced. In this respect, detention has a unique challenge, not least because of the overcrowding of prisons and the promiscuity it causes. French judges then have to deal with the major issue of protecting the detainee in times of pandemic, and mainly the respect of his fundamental rights and freedoms. The order of 22 April 2020 thus responds to an application made by two applicants, a detainee from the Lyon-Corbas Settlements House and the Bar Association of Lyon. They denounce the conditions of imprisonment and the breakdown of the link between lawyers and their clients as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. They maintain that, contrary to the Council of State’s recommendation (8 April 2020, No 439827, new https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ceta/id/CETATEXT000041793749/), the director of the Lyon-Corbas stopping house did not take the necessary measures to deal with the epidemic. Thus, detainees suffer a serious and manifestly unlawful interference with their right to life, their right not to be subjected to inhuman treatment and their right to receive appropriate treatment and care. Factually, such infringements are characterised by a number of characteristics. Firstly, the lack of masks, particularly in the case of detainees responsible for the preparation and distribution of meals, the impossibility of complying with national rules on physical distancing owing to overcrowding and the layout of spaces where prisoners can cross, particularly for walking departures. Secondly, the lack of testing, even after the medically proven detection of a detainee affected by the coronavirus, constitutes a breach of the obligation to treat prisoners medicopsychologiq. Finally, they point to a general lack of hygiene, particularly due to the lack of cleaning of the premises between the detainees’ showers and between the excavations and the insufficient distribution of hygienic products. Moreover, the rights of the defence are also infringed because of the impossibility of regular visits by lawyers to parloirs because of the health risk. In its defence, the Keeper of the Seals requests that the application be dismissed, taking the view that the applicant is not particularly vulnerable, which makes it impossible to characterise the urgency required for recourse to a referral. Moreover, the mere case of COVID-19 present in the stopping house is not sufficient to characterise a particular risk of contamination, it being noted that the patient was quickly taken over and transferred to the inter-regional secure hospital unit and is now being recovered. Potential patients have also been placed in health confinement. On the other hand, there is no evidence of reduced access to medical services.

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