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Confiscation is a deprivation of property pronounced as a penalty. However, it is not certain that its scope is limited to the property of the convicted person. Article 131-21 of the Penal code indeed allows the confiscation of assets over which the convicted person only has « free disposal » (« libre disposition »), suggesting that a third parties, who own the confiscated property, could be directly affected by this penalty without having been found guilty of the offense it sanctions. However, the notion of « free disposal » is surrounded by uncertainties. While Article 544 of the Civil code defines disposal as an attribute of the right of property, does it, in the sense of the Penal code, refer to a simple de facto control over another's property or a curious method of property acquisition with a repressive purposes ? In either case, it appears that the constitutionality and the compliance of the article 131-21 with the European convention may be called into question.

With the Act of January 24, 2022, the legislator introduced new methods of repression into the Criminal Code, reflecting a major philosophical shift. These are the offense of deliberate intoxication and the aggravating circumstance of prior irresponsibility. These provisions make it possible to establish the criminal responsibility of individuals whose discernment has been temporarily impaired. The specific nature of their purpose makes them unclassifiable within the framework of general criminal law.

The decree of 12 décember 2023 on various measures relating to the professional activities of inmates frames and secures mixed activities in order to better promote them. However, these measures, conceived and designed to overcome structural obstacles and staff resistance to the development of such activities, in no way call into question the fundamental principles of separation and differentiation of the sexes in detention, which remain largely unchanged.