MOSCOW, July 18 (RAPSI) – France’s parliament has adopted a law to expand the use of probation and other measures to reduce prison overcrowding, Reuters reported. The law has been passed after a final vote in the Senate.

The number of prisoners in France has grown by a third in the past decade and reached about 70,000, largely because of tough sentencing laws introduced under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.

According to Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, France’s prison system does little to reduce repeat offending.

Reuters writes that legislation introduced under Sarkozy allows judges to choose probation for offenders sentenced to less than five years’ imprisonment for crimes ranging from theft to assault. It also did away with minimum prison sentences for repeat offenders and those convicted of violent crimes.

Supporters of the reform, including magistrates, defense lawyers, prison guards and human rights groups, believe that probation requires more active effort from offenders and so is more effective than imprisonment.

But the center-right opposition party UMP intends to campaign for the reintroduction of the Sarkozy-era measures. In particular, it plans to appeal to the Constitutional Court.