France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, life imprisonment is a punishment of indeterminate length and may last for the remainder of the convict's life. The sentence is the most severe punishment given under French law and it can be imposed by the

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...

for aggravated murder, treason, terrorism,

drug kingpin A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...

and other serious felonies resulting in death or involving torture. There is an average of 25 sentences of life imprisonment per year and there are 550 inmates currently jailed for life. Life sentences for crimes other than aggravated murder are rare. Inmates jailed for life are required to serve a safety period of 18 to 22 years before they become eligible for parole. In the case of

child murder Pedicide, child murder, child manslaughter, or child homicide is the homicide of an individual who is a minor. Punishment by jurisdiction United States In 2008, there were 1,494 child homicides in the United States. Of those killed, 1,03 ...

involving rape or torture, the premeditated murder of a state official (since 2011), and terrorism resulting in death, the court can impose a safety period of up to 30 years, or order that the prisoner is ineligible for parole at all, and thus will spend the rest of their natural lives in prison. It is possible to give a reduction of the safety period for serious signs of social re-adaptation (even if the court has ordered that the prisoner is to spend the rest of his or her life in prison), and it is possible to be freed before the safety period for serious health reasons. From 2011, the maximum penalty for persons who were under 16 years of age at the time of their crime is 20 years' imprisonment, with eligibility for parole in 10 years; life sentences are very rarely imposed to offenders between 16 and 18, the last being Mathieu Moulinas in June 2013 for raping and burning alive Agnès Marin two years earlier and the last before him was Patrick Dils in 1986 for stoning two children before being exonerated.

References

{{World topic, Life imprisonment in, noredlinks=y, title= Life imprisonment

Law of France