Tahiti's Nuutania prison Photo: Supplied
The incarceration rate in French Polynesia has remained about double that of mainland France last year.
Figures from the French justice ministry for December show that for every thousand inhabitants 1.9 is in jail, compared to one per thousand in France.
The figures also show that Tahiti's Nuutania prison continues to be overcrowded despite calls to improve the conditions.
A lawyer Thibaud Millet told Tahiti Nui TV that many find the policies too repressive, with too many prison sentences being given and which are too long.
He said the large number of prison inmates is a surprise, given that there is no organised crime, and no firearms are in circulation.
Another lawyer Loris Peytavit said drug offences are punished more severely while people in French Polynesia should be entitled to justice that is fair throughout the territory of the French Republic.