France's Council of State orders reforms to Paris police psychiatric infirmary

France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État, confirmed a series of urgent measures aimed at protecting the fundamental rights of people detained in the Paris police psychiatric infirmary (IPPP). The court reaffirmed the legal requirement that detention must not exceed 48 hours and ordered the prefecture to ensure rapid medical orientation and to expand the pool of psychiatric facilities available in Île‑de‑France and, if necessary, elsewhere. It also mandated better information on legal recourse and easier access to a lawyer.

The decision follows a report by the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté that highlighted serious violations at the infirmary, prompting the Ligue des droits de l'homme and the Syndicat des avocats de France to bring the case before the tribunal. While the court upheld most of the earlier injunctions, it struck down orders requiring a sanitary installation in each cell and a change of detainees' clothing. The prefecture had previously denied any inhuman or degrading treatment.

The ruling affects roughly 1,456 individuals placed in the infirmary in 2025 and seeks to address chronic shortages of psychiatric beds in the region.