Detention & sentence adjustment

Support of detainees and sentence adjustment: +33 1 87 66 00 48

Mr. Charles Bruguière continues to support convicted persons throughout their incarceration and ensures that their rights are respected throughout detention. The firm assists definitively convicted persons in their daily prison life and in their sentence-adjustment plans.

Our team assists detainees before the sentence enforcement courts in adjusting the execution of their sanction: day-release permits, electronic monitoring, conditional release, semi-liberty, and lifting of safety periods.

Mr. Bruguière, criminal lawyer at the Paris Bar, also intervenes during disciplinary hearings before the prison administration, in dealings with the probation service (CPIP), and before the administrative courts to enforce the fundamental rights of incarcerated persons.

Supporting convicted persons

Final conviction to a prison sentence marks the start of a new phase: the execution of the sentence. This period is governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Prison Code, which set out the rights and obligations of detained persons.

Mr. Bruguière continues to support convicted persons during their incarceration. The firm ensures that their rights are respected throughout detention, by intervening with the prison administration, the probation service (CPIP), and the competent courts.

Support includes regular meetings in the lawyer's visiting room, analysis of the detention record, challenges to allocation decisions, monitoring of transfer requests, and representation before the sentence enforcement courts.

Sentence adjustment

Sentence adjustment refers to the set of measures allowing the execution of a conviction to be adapted to the personal situation of the convicted person and to their reintegration plan. These measures aim to prepare release and prevent reoffending.

Day-release permits

Day-release permits allow the detainee to temporarily leave the prison facility for varying durations. They are an essential step in preparing reintegration:

• Permits of a few hours for family or medical reasons
• Escorted permits for administrative obligations
• Long-duration permits (up to several days) to prepare return to free life

Mr. Bruguière prepares permit requests and assists before the Sentence Enforcement Commission to justify their necessity.

Electronic monitoring

Home detention under electronic monitoring (ankle bracelet), the name given since 2020 to electronic monitoring placement, allows all or part of the sentence to be served at home. This measure is granted by the sentence enforcement judge after an opinion from the probation service (CPIP) and review of the reintegration file.

The detainee must provide serious guarantees of representation and reintegration: stable housing, employment or professional project, no risk of reoffending. Mr. Bruguière prepares a complete file demonstrating these guarantees and pleads before the sentence enforcement judge.

Conditional release (parole)

Conditional release allows the convicted person to leave the facility before the end of the sentence, subject to strict obligations:

• Being under the supervision of the CPIP throughout the measure
• Complying with obligations of employment, training, or treatment
• Not committing any new offence
• Appearing at all summonses from the sentence enforcement judge

The sentence enforcement judge rules on a proposal from the commission. Mr. Bruguière prepares the file, drafts the briefs, and pleads for conditional release.

Semi-liberty

Semi-liberty allows the detainee to work or attend training outside the facility during the day, while returning each evening. This measure is intended to prepare professional reintegration and maintain family ties.

The sentence enforcement judge rules after review of the file and opinion of the commission. Mr. Bruguière prepares the requests and assists before the commission to highlight the interest of this measure.

Lifting of the safety period

For certain sentences, the law provides for a safety period during which conditional release is not available. A request to lift this period can be filed with the sentence enforcement judge. Mr. Bruguière prepares a file demonstrating good conduct in detention and reintegration guarantees.

Defence before the sentence enforcement courts

The sentence enforcement judge (JAP) has jurisdiction over all sentence-adjustment measures. The Sentence Enforcement Commission (CAP), composed of magistrates and prison administration representatives, issues a consultative opinion before each decision.

Mr. Bruguière assists detainees at every stage:

• Preparing the request file (housing, employment, treatment, guarantees)
• Drafting briefs and supporting documents
• Assistance during interviews with the CPIP
• Representation before the Sentence Enforcement Commission
• Appeals against refusal decisions before the sentence enforcement judge
• Appeal before the sentence enforcement tribunal

Disciplinary hearings and prison litigation

The firm assists detainees during disciplinary hearings before the prison administration for acts committed during detention. These hearings may lead to graduated sanctions: warning, reprimand, loss of day-release permits, change of allocation, disciplinary placement.

Mr. Bruguière contests the alleged facts, pleads the proportionality of the sanction, and seises the administrative judge in case of an abusive or disproportionate decision.

Administrative law remedies

We intervene before the administrative courts, in particular in appeals against solitary confinement decisions and conditions of detention. The urgency judge of the administrative court may be seised on an emergency basis to terminate isolation or a violation of fundamental rights.

Administrative remedies also concern:

• Refusal of care or inhuman and degrading conditions of detention
• Allocations to facilities far from the family home
• Disproportionate security measures
• Violations of the right to correspondence and visit

Relations with the prison administration and the CPIP

We assist detainees in their dealings with the prison administration or their probation and reintegration counsellor (CPIP). The CPIP is a key actor in sentence execution: they assess the risk of reoffending, prepare reports for the commission, and follow the convicted person after release.

Mr. Bruguière ensures that CPIP reports are objective and complete, contests erroneous assessments, and facilitates contact with relatives outside. The firm also intervenes to enforce the right to visit, the right to correspondence, and access to care.

Related areas: pretrial detention · judicial investigation · general criminal law.