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Publication date: 21-2-2012

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Events

8th CEP Conference on Electronic Monitoring in Europe
Date: 8-10 November 2012
Place: Balsta, Zweden

Towards the golden standard in the practice of electronic monitoring

To many countries in Europe - though still not to all - electronic monitoring is no longer new. We have generated a great deal of experience, and undertaken a fair amount of research. The CEP has devoted sustained attention to it, and the Council of Europe has signalled the kinds of regulation to which it should be subject.

So what, to date, has Europe come to think of as best practice in respect of electronic monitoring, and to what ideals does it still aspire? What are the "gold standards" we should pursue in respect of technology, service delivery, research and regulation? When necessary, Europe has learned about the possibilities and pitfalls of EM from other countries, but increasingly it is itself a touchstone for developments elsewhere. Not all uses of EM have been wise, and policy makers will sometimes seek the expedient rather than the best. Some people embrace the forms of EM we have now, but still fear where the technology might lead us.

In thinking about a "gold standard" for EM in all its aspects we should remember that it is not EM in itself that we are judging, but the contribution that EM could and should make to civilised and constructive criminal justice systems, which make only parsimonious use of imprisonment and which are as firmly committed to the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders as they are to public protection.

The conference will be of interest to policy makers, project managers, practitioners, academics and anyone interested in developing best practice in electronic monitoring. The programme includes plenary sessions as well as workshop sessions and also provides plenty of time for networking with other delegates.

The following companies are sponsoring the event:

• 3M Electronic Monitoring
• G4S
• Serco Monitoring Home Affairs.

They will be exhibiting their latest equipment at the conference and talking about their services and new developments. Their staff will be available throughout the conference.

A conference fee of €300 is payable in advance by bank transfer. This includes two nights' hotel accommodation at the conference venue (Conference hotel Aronsborg in Balsta Sweden), which is easily accessible in just an half hour from Stockholm - Arlanda airport and full board during the conference.

Delegates will be expected to meet their own travel costs and the cost of any additional stay at the venue.

About four weeks before the event, delegates will be send a conference pack containing:

• Final version of conference programme
• Preliminary reading
• List of delegates
• Travel directions

Registration form

Please complete registration no later than 1^st October 2012.

Draft programme



Conference on Restorative Justice, and Gang, Gun and Knife Crime (London, UK)
14 March 2012

Conference Leaving extremist and criminal groups (Fryshuset Stockholm, Sweden)
22-23 March 2012

Inclusion Conference Tapping into talent (London, UK)
26 March 2012

Conference 17th GCOCP & Annual International Forum (München, Germany)
16-17 April 2012

Restorative Justice Project Final Conference (Oxford, UK)
25-26 April 2012

NCCCJ Conference From Victim Policy to Victim Oriented Policies (University of Wales, Newport)
27 April 2012

CEP Seminar on pre-sentence reports and assessment (Oslo, Norway)
10-11 May 2012

Conference on innovation in criminology in the French speaking world (Montreal, Canada)
13-15 May 2012

Seventh biennial Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice (Helsinki Finland)
14-16 June 2012

EFUS Conference: The future of prevention (Aubervilliers and Saint-Denis, France)
12 December 2012


Publications

Is a European juvenile justice system possible?
The Criminology Institute of the University of Greifswald in Germany, published the results of a large study that provides an overview of the legal situation of juvenile justice systems in Europe. Prof. Frieder Dünkel, Professor of Criminology, and his team are concluding the project, which also comprises of a second phase that concentrates on examples of good practices, which will be described in a second round of national reports. The first publication entails country reports on the current situation and reform developments, as well as introductory chapters and comparative analyses.

Read more on the project, its list of partners and on the publication itself, on the website of Greifswald University.


Belgians launch website comparing probation measures in EU
The Belgian Ministry of Justice has launched in 2009 an EU project on the implementation of the 2008/947/JHA Council Framework Decision of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgement and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative sanctions.

This project was co-financed by the European Commission and realised with the partnership of France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom and the European Organisation for Probation (‘CEP'). It aimed at facilitating the effective implementation of the Framework Decision by networking legislative experts and practitioners, identifying the main difficulties linked to the implementation of this instrument and disseminating information on national probation systems.

One of the results of this project consists in the setting-up of a website offering an overview of the legal systems with regard to probation measures and alternative sanctions in each Member State and explaining the main steps and objectives underpinning the EU project.

Visit the project's website: www.euprobationproject.eu.


Other

Response of CEP to Green Paper on detention
In 2011 the European Commission issued a Green Paper on the application of EU criminal justice legislation in the field of detention and opened a consultation round for actors and stakeholders in this field. Many of CEP's members, and the probation sector in general, are closely related to the prison sector. It is for this reason that CEP has responded to the Green Paper.

CEP confirmed what was outlined in the Green Paper  that that big differences in Europe exist with regard to the detention situation in the different jurisdictions, and cooperation is necessary to achieve a common standard or practice. This is one of the reasons that CEP has supported the establishment of EuroPris, the European professional organisation for the prison sector, and other European organisations in the field of criminal justice. Non-custodial sanctions, resettlement activities and activities in the framework of victim support and restorative justice are essential in the process to reducing recidivism and the current prison overcrowding. CEP also advocates that the Commission should continue with publishing prison population figures of its Member States. The comparable figures may stimulate Member States to try to perform better by implementing best practices aiming to decrease the duration of pre-trial detention, or by starting to cooperate more with countries where large numbers of Foreign National Prisoners originate.

The Green Paper and the responses from authorities, NGO's (i.a. the response of CEP) and others can be found on the EC's website.


New members of CEP: Slovakian Constantine the Philosopher University and Ministry of Justice
Although Slovakian pilot projects of probation and mediation in criminal procedures were carried out in 2002 and 2003, communication about Slovakian organization's membership of CEP started in 2006. The development of probation in Slovakia has moved fast. Slovakia had 5.4 million inhabitants (2009) and the prison population was 9.554 persons. The number of probation and mediation officers in Slovakia is changing (for example in March 2005 it was 78, in August of 2006 it was 112 and the last current number of 79 is from February 2010) (Lulei, 2010). Financial support of the Slovakian probation system increased from 0,73% in 2005 to 1,11% in 2007 of the state's prison service budget.

During the years 2006 and 2008 members of the Department of social work and social sciences of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra attended several CEP conferences and workshops. After that, in close contact about the possibilities of development of the Slovakian probation with Secretary General Mr. Leo Tigges, Constantine the Philosopher University became a member of CEP in 2011. Dr. Martin Lulei, teacher at Constantine the Philosoper University, explains the motivation to become a member: "The Department of social work and social sciences and its academics participated in several international projects in relation to CEP, to us well known for the DOMICE project. And I know that this year, the Slovakian Ministry of Justice is going to join CEP as well.'

‘At the moment,' continues Dr. Lulei, ‘documents about contemporary state of probation and its further development are being prepared by a section of crime prevention and mediation of Slovakian Ministry of Justice. It is research like this that fits in well with our involvement in the European probation network. We are looking forward to see further developments in this field in Slovakia.'


Contribute to subtitles in foreign languages for Discovering Desistance film
Some CEP members will already be aware of this ongoing project led by Fergus McNeill, Steve Farrall, Shadd Maruna and Claire Lightowler. The project, which also involves NOMS, the Probation Board for Northern Ireland and the Scottish Government's Community Justice Division, aims to generate knowledge exchange around the subject of desistance from crime and how probation services (and criminal justice more generally) can get better at supporting it.

The first phase of the project has involved the establishment of a blog site [http://blogs.iriss.org.uk/discoveringdesistance], which has already become a useful repository of print, audio and visual materials about desistance, as well as blog posts.

Phase 1 also involves the production of a 50 minute documentary film about desistance which is intended for use as the stimulus material for a series of stakeholder workshops in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the USA in the Spring 2012; these workshops will explore how probation practices can be adapted to better support desistance.

The film (which will be available as a DVD and online) may also be used in supervision (i.e. stimulus for engagement) and in staff training. As the film is now entering its final production phase, Fergus has asked CEP to contact probation services across Europe (and beyond) to explore interest in subtitling the film in various languages. The team already plans to subtitle the film in English, French, German and Spanish. If a small amount of financial support is provided, subtitles in other languages could be added. If you are interested in discussing this, please contact Fergus McNeill.