The capability of a rule-of-law state is determined not only by the mere existence of laws but also by the resources available to enforce those laws. In France, concerns have been growing for years that the judiciary is struggling to respond to social and crime policy challenges. A key indicator highlighting this issue is that France has significantly fewer prosecutors than most other European countries. As a result, administrative agencies are burdened with excessive workloads, procedures are delayed, and questions about the efficiency of the judicial system are increasing.
A Unique Case within Europe
Data from the European Commission’s comparative justice efficiency data (CEPEJ), based on 2022 figures and published in 2024, presents a notable picture. France has about 3.2 prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants. In contrast, the European average is 12.2, and the median is 11.2.
Therefore, France has roughly four times fewer prosecutors relative to its population. In the overall European ranking, France is near the bottom, just above Ireland. Meanwhile, many countries in Eastern and Central Europe have between 20 and 24 prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants.
This figure is even more surprising considering that France is one of the largest economies in Europe and has a highly developed administrative structure. The staffing of criminal enforcement agencies stands in stark contrast to the country’s economic and political significance.
Consequences of Staff Shortages
The importance of statistical comparisons arises from their practical impact. In the case of the French judiciary, this impact is immediately apparent.
According to CEPEJ data, one French prosecutor handles over 2,000 cases annually on average. In contrast, the European median is about 204 cases. The workload of French prosecutors is very high, ranking among the highest levels in Europe.
Such excessive workloads lead to longer investigation times, stricter prioritization, and complex cases requiring significant resources. Especially complex fields like organized crime, cybercrime, financial crime, and domestic violence demand specialized knowledge and long-term investigations, and staff shortages are particularly severe in these areas.
Moreover, French prosecutors have fewer administrative and legal support staff compared to prosecutors in other European countries. While support systems such as legal clerks, assistants, and administrative personnel are well established elsewhere, French prosecutors must handle many tasks with relatively limited support.
Shortage of Judges as well as Prosecutors
Structural problems are not limited to prosecutorial staff. France also falls significantly short of the European average in the number of judges.
Across Europe, there are on average 21.9 judges per 100,000 inhabitants, while France has only about 11.3. This is also considerably behind the median of European countries.
The dual shortage of judges and prosecutors increases the burden on the entire judicial system. Cases are delayed not only during the investigation phase but also in court, leading to longer overall procedural durations.
The French judiciary faces this typical bottleneck. Even if staff are reinforced in certain sectors, delays will continue unless other procedural stages are improved simultaneously.
Causes of the Long-Term Deficit
The current situation is not the result of short-term changes. It is a structural problem formed over decades.
The judicial budget has been increased several times in recent years, and the number of judges has also risen. However, the complexity of procedures has increased as well. Digitalization, international financial flows, cross-border crime, and new types of internet-based crimes have greatly increased the processing burden compared to 20 years ago.
Moreover, social awareness regarding certain crime areas has changed. Domestic violence, sexual violence, and discrimination cases are reported more frequently and investigated more thoroughly than in the past. Progress in victim protection is increasing the workload of police, prosecutors, and courts alike.
Many experts point out that simply looking at absolute staffing numbers can underestimate the actual workload. This is because not only the number of cases but also the legal complexity is increasing significantly.
Trust in the Rule of Law at Risk
The capacity of the judiciary is of crucial importance to the stability of democratic institutions. Citizens expect crimes to be investigated, disputes to be resolved quickly, and judgments to be delivered within a reasonable timeframe.
If procedures are delayed for years or interrupted due to staff shortages, the impression that the government is incompetent easily arises, and trust in public institutions can be damaged.
In recent years, several senior officials in the French judiciary have repeatedly highlighted this issue. They warned that the gap between citizens’ expectations and the actual capacities of courts and prosecutors is widening, and that staff shortages should no longer be considered merely an internal administrative problem but a serious challenge to the quality of national law enforcement.
Against this background, discussions about judicial resource allocation are becoming an increasingly important political task. While public debates on security issues occur frequently, questions are increasingly raised about whether the police, prosecutors, and courts have sufficient resources to effectively implement political objectives. Comparative figures from Europe suggest that there is still significant room for improvement in France.
Author: P. Tiko