REFORMS OF THE FRENCH PRISON SYSTEM AT THE END OF THE 18th – FIRST HALF OF THE 19th CENTURIES

Abstract

The article examines the prison system of France during the years of the bourgeois revolution and the period of the monarchy restoration. The characteris tics of the prison reform and the role of the charitable philanthropic societies in its imp­lementation are determined.

The prison reform in France was started at the end of the 18th century, just after the bourgeois revolution. In 1791 the new Criminal Code was adopted. At that time imprisonment prevailed among other sanctions. The following places of deprivation of liberty were envisaged: the arrest houses for the detainees and the court houses for the persons under trial; criminal prisons (la maison de force) for the deprivation of liberty of the sentenced offenders; la maison de gêne were created for the strict soli­tary confinement (mainly for the political criminals); isolation houses and correctio­nal prisons for perpetrators, in particular juveniles.

After the 9 Thermidor Revolution, which took place in September – October of 1794, the inspection of all the places of deprivation of liberty was carried out. In 1795 the Directory of France subordinated the Prison Administration to the Minis- try of Internal Affairs and authorized the local commissars to monitor the places of detent­ion. Further changes in the prison system are related to the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code in 1808 and the Criminal Codes in 1810.

After the monarchy restoration in 1817 the Ministry of Internal Affairs tried to make the standardization of the prison classification, which would correspond to the existing system of punishment. The places of deprivation of liberty were divided into the following categories: central (penal and corrective); departmental municipal. In 1819 the Royal Society of the Prison System Development was established. It received several state functions in the sphere of enforcement of sentences.

After the «July» monarchy was established in 1830 the French Government de­cided to start the radical prison reform. During 1831–1834 the prison system was administered by the Ministry of Commerce and Public Works. The relevant transfer was caused by the active formation of the prison labor system. The municipal gov­ernments were also subordinated to that Ministry. In 1834 the Prison Administ­ration was returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.