Are there any national laws about the re integration of offenders serving the community based sanctions?

According to the article 2 of Penitentiary Law of 24/11/2009, the French penitentiary public service participate in the execution of any penal decisions.

It contribute to the people’s integration and the re-integration who are entrusted by the judicial authority.

It is organized in a such a way to ensure the individualisation and the management of the offenders’ penalties.

In this context, the SPIS, French penitentiary administration service, ensure this mission.

Penitentiary Service and probation measures (SPIP)

The SPIP operates in an open regime and closed regime, with detainees, after consulting the judicial authorities for the community bonding sentences..

SPIP’s main mission is the prevention of re-offending. To this end, SPIP’s actions are structured around three main themes:

1. The evaluation, the monitoring and the control of people;

2. The assistance to the judicial decision with the aim of personalizing it;

3. The integration or re-integration of people under criminal proceedings.

In order to achieve these objectives, the SPIP participates to the local bodies, which deal with the security of crime prevention. The other public partners (territorial districts and social bodies) collaborate in the mission of the integration of penitentiary administration: in this way they allow it to integrate into public policies of Politique de la Ville, assess of housing, work and vocational training, cultural actions or health education.

Concretely, SPIP works with associative partnership, which implement actions linked with the care, training and work.

The purpose is to mobilise some provisions of general law for these specific users.

Institutional Partnerships of the SPIP

Judge of application of penalties

He shall be responsible for following condemned’ life inside and outside of prison. He intervenes after a sentence involving deprivation of liberty. The judge lays down the main methods of the

penitentiary treatment.

Local MissionIt is an association with the mission of offering a public service of social and working integration. It ensure the functions of reception, information, counselling and accompanying in order to help the youth from 16 to 25 years, who left school.

Work PoleIt is a public body responsible for the employment in France: reception, accompanying, compensation for jobseekers and prospecting of the market.

Associative Partnership of the SPIP

Integration Space - DON BOSCO

It is an instrument for the youth under criminal execution. It is built around two axes: - Social and educational accompaniment- Training accompaniment

Emergency

It is an association aiming to facilitate the subjects leaving the prison’s re -integration re integration: social housing, reception for detainees’ families, penal mediation, aid to victims of criminal offence.

Municipal Centre of Social Action, sports and cultural associations, training bodies, integration structures..

Others

The main community bonding sentences

Suspended sentence with probation

Postpone of sentencing to a later date, when the tribunal evaluates that the person’s re integration is to acquire, the damage is repairing or the disturb resulting from the infraction is ceasing to exist. Therefore the subject can be subdued to one or more obligations fixed by tribunal.

Judiciary control

It is an alternative measure ordered by the examining judge or by the judge of freedom and detention, pending a final judgement. The sentenced person is subject to a number of some obligations and he can benefit, on the basis of his situation, from a social-educational accompanying.

Probation system

Measure of penalty management for the condemned doing considerable efforts for social re-adaptation. After the low of 2009, the sentenced person who justifies his/her « involvement in any other valid project of integration or re-integration » may also strive for a measure of probation system (active job search intervention, entrepreneurship…). The subject is released provisionally before the date foreseen for the end of penalty, subject to compliance with the obligations, for a probationary period. Once this period has elapsed, if no kind of accident has occurred, the person shall be considered as having entirely served the sentence.

Exit permit

It is a measure decided by the judge of application of penalties. It allows the detainee, under fixed conditions, to leave the penitentiary structure for a certain period of time (from 3 to 10 days maximum, it depends on the detention regime), in order to maintain the family ties or to prepare an exit project (job interview, appointment in a social housing or care centre..)

External placement

Planning of a custodial sentence that allow the condemned to serve his sentence out of the structure. It can be monitored by associations and arranged with the penitentiary administration, by proposing accommodation, employment and/or professional training.

Placement under electronic surveillance

Measure of judiciary control or management of penalty. The condemned serves his sentence in a designated place ( domicile or social housing) by a magistrate, who fixes the hours during which the subject can leave it in order to participate to a professional activity, attend a training, spend time with his family… An electronic system allow to monitor remotely the movements.

Day-release

It is an execution modality of a sentence under a particular regime of detention, which allows the condemned to be absent from the penitentiary structure in order to pursue a professional activity, to attend a training, to benefit from a medical treatment or to participate constantly to any specific project aiming the integration or re-integration, in order to prevent risks of recidivism, by making considerable efforts for the social readaptation.

Suspension with probation

It is a measure which allows a condemned not to serve the sentence, partially or entirely, held in detention, under the double conditions: not to be condemned for a new offence during his probationary period and to respect one or more obligations fixed by the Court.

Community Service

It is a community bonding sentence, which requires the condemnend’s agreement on being judged and which consists in a unpaid job for the benefit of a

public structure, a territorial district or an association.

Integration Process, Insertion Space a Partnership work…