English
Jean Carbonnier was not only a civil lawyer, he also wrote a profound and visionary essay on provisional imprisonment. In this article, Carbonnier asks if provisional detention should be abolished or if it should be maintained because it is a necessary evil. It is a contradictory institution : there is effective incarceration, yet it is not a punishment. It appears from this analysis that the law is not simply repressive, but that it is also prompted by a strong yearning after freedom.