Prisoners still in Search of a Judge in France

Over the last twenty years, judicial review of prison officials’ decisions has significantly increased. The emergence and expansion of this review has taken place under the influence of the European Court of Human Rights’ case law, and in a context marked by the judicial activism of some human rights groups and legal activists as well. The increase in this review raises however the issue of its efficiency, as the scope of judicial review of rules and orders issued by prison officials seems to be quite limited up to now. The courts’ reluctance to control disciplinary sanctions against inmates, recent case law developments limiting the obligation of officials to explain in writing the reasons for their decisions, as well as the unwillingness by the courts to allow the use of emergency proceedings – known as « référ? proceedings – in the context of prison law litigation illustrate these limits. The « quality » of the judicial review exercised by the administrative courts must therefore be seriously questioned, at least in some respects.