Bill to Guarantee the Right of Visit by Members of Parliament and Bar Association Presidents to Places of Deprivation of Liberty

This bill aims to extend the existing legal framework governing inspection rights of Members of Parliament (both deputies and senators) and bar association presidents (bâtonniers) to include court holding cells and judicial depots (geôles et dépôts des juridictions judiciaires). These facilities, used to temporarily detain individuals awaiting court hearings, were previously excluded from oversight visit rights. The measure is a direct legislative response to a ruling by the Constitutional Council on April 29, 2025, which declared unconstitutional the prior exclusion of these facilities from the visitation rights framework. Parliament is now obligated to remedy this gap to bring the law into conformity with constitutional requirements. By including court holding cells and judicial depots, the bill ensures that independent oversight actors — elected legislators and heads of bar associations — can conduct unannounced visits to all places where individuals are deprived of their liberty within the judicial system, not just prisons or police custody facilities. The reform strengthens fundamental rights protections and transparency in the French justice system, closing a legal loophole that had left a category of detention facilities without external oversight.

AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.