J
ö
rg Jesse, Director General of Prison and Probation Administration of Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania (Germany)
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EuroPris
: What are the challenges for your service for the coming year?
J
ö
rg Jesse
: The closing of a prison and to distribute its staff to prisons they do not want to work in. A closer cooperation with municipalities and districts which are not interested in reintegrating their own citizens. To organise better conditions for children of prisoners and their families. Introducing restorative justice schemes in prison and probation services.
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Featured Article –
Out of the shadows – the children and families of prisoners
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Peter Scharff Smith is professor at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo. Peter’s research has primarily lied within the fields of criminology, sociology of law and history. One of his latest books is
When the Innocent are Punished. The Children of Imprisoned Parents
.
In this issue Peter elaborates on the topic of families and children of prisoners. In terms of research this group is no longer forgotten or neglected. There has been a tremendous development in research and as the knowledge increases, so does the awareness among policy makers and practitioners.
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Closed door workshop for EuroPris members on radicalisation
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On
28 February
EuroPris conducted in
Brussels
a workshop on Radicalisation in prisons. The workshop was a so-called ‘closed door’ event, meaning that participation was restricted to experts from Prison Services. A total of 65 participants from 28 European countries took part in the event. The ‘closed door’ concept allowed for an open exchange on subjects such as separation/dispersement and multi-agency cooperation. Balancing legal requirements, prison regime and security was another subject that was discussed by the participants.
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Domestic Violence – ground work for new expert group
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The Swedish Prison and Probation Service took the initiative to explore with EuroPris and CEP the possibility for establishing a joint expert group on the issue of domestic violence. A pre-meeting was organised in March in Stockholm with experts from Croatia, Belgium, England/Wales and Sweden to discuss current practices and gaps, also in relation to the provisions of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention. Awareness raising/education, multi-agency cooperation and treatment programmes were highlighted as relevant subjects for exchange and joint work with the European network. In the coming month the members of both networks will be consulted to decide on the establishment of the group.
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Family Relations Workshop –
One more month to go!
How to address the relationship between children and their imprisoned parents as well as relationships of prisoners with siblings and parents – that will be the focus of the Family relations workshop on
11 & 12 April in Vienna
. Practical examples will be presented on family strategies, cooperation with NGO’s, CoE recommendation and the work of the EuroPris expert group on visiting facilities, intervention programs, staff training and communication. For registration and further information:
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Distinguished speakers at the Correctional Research Symposium
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Alison Liebling (UK) and Larry Motiuk (Canada) will be two distinguished speakers at the upcoming Correctional Research Symposium organised by EuroPris and ICPA under the title “What is good prison research?”. This, the second issue of the symposium, will address issues like - building trust and cooperation between the academic community and Prison Services; possibilities to combine the needs of academics and Prison Services; development of in-house research versus building closer relationships with external research institutions. This year the Symposium will take place on
9-10 May
in
Prague
, kindly hosted by the Czech Prison Service. For registration and further information click here
https://icpa.ca/crs2018/
.
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ICT workshop in Stockholm
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EuroPris organizes the 4
th
ICT workshop from
22 - 24 May
in
Stockholm
. Only public sector ICT experts are invited to share and discuss on: managing data flows, use of videoconferencing, development of ICT strategies, (wireless) connectivity in prisons, challenges in the implementation of the GDPR and much more. The event is hosted by the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, who also offer the possibility to visit the Stockholm remand Prison. More information and registration will be available on the EuroPris website on
20 March
.
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CJP Summer Course - Save the Date
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In the second edition of the Criminal Justice Platform Summer Course all three courses will deal with the issue of
radicalisation and violent extremist offenders
from a different angle. Characteristics of VEO´s in prisons, exploring alternatives to detention and involving victims’ stories in reimagining violent extremism. The Course will run from
3-6 July
at the Centre for Legal Studies in
Barcelona
.
Until 15 April
registration can be made at a reduced fee. For registration and further information:
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Mental Health Workshop - report available
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In December EuroPris and CEP held a workshop on mental health issues in prison and probation in Dublin. The workshop was kindly hosted by the Irish Probation Service. Different models for meeting mental health needs were presented as well as specific topics like ethics in treatment, suicide prevention, intellectual disabilities and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Read more and download the report and presentations:
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Prison information – just a click away
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You may have noticed some changes on the EuroPris website over the past months. Not only is there a great new look but enhancements have also been made to our unique
European Prison Information System (EPIS).
Thanks to our contributors the EPIS database continues to grow and is now being supported by the European Council as the exclusive tool for prison information. Take a look at EPIS on
www.europris.org/epis
, our central resource to support knowledge sharing among the European Prison Agencies.
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7th EuroPris Conference & Annual General Meeting in Estonia
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The EuroPris Annual General Meeting and Conference is kindly hosted by the Estonian Prison Service on
18 June
in Jõhvi
. At the Conference we will invite Director Generals to present the latest developments and challenges in their Service. During the AGM the Board will present the work of EuroPris and discuss plans for the coming year. Also, there will be the election of new Board members. The official invitations and request for nominations of Board candidates will be sent out on 19 March. As in all previous years, the EuroPris event will precede the Council of Europe Annual Conference of Prison and Probation Directors (CDPPS) on 19-20 June.
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EU mobilises to prevent radicalisation in prisons
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The European Union invests in a large number of projects that address radicalisation. Currently 19 projects are funded under the Justice program. On
27 February
the European Commission organized a conference on Radicalisation in Prisons. Three ongoing projects: R2PRIS, DARE and the French RIVE project were presented to and discussed with the more than 100 participants. How to prevent that prisons become breeding grounds for terrorists, how to manage radicalized prisoners, how to share information between different agencies and what does and what does not work were focus points of the discussions at the conference.
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CPT factsheet on women in prison
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Prison rules and facilities have been developed for a prison population in which the male prisoner is considered to be the norm. Women usually make up a very small minority of the overall prison population. They have particular needs and vulnerabilities which are different from those of men. Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has developed a factsheet to promote a more gender-sensitive prison practice.
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European Judicial Training Strategy - Call for consultation
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The European Commission calls for comments on both the present and the upcoming training strategy for justice professionals. These professionals are the practitioners involved in the justice system such as judges, prosecutors, court staff, bailiffs or enforcement officers, lawyers, notaries, mediators, legal interpreters and translators, court experts, prison management and staff, probation officers. Consultation period is from
1 February 2018 – 26 April 2018.
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In 2018, under the French Presidency, ENAP – the National Correctional Administration Academy will organize the Annual Conference of the European Penitentiary Training Academies in
Agen, France on 13-14 June
. The topic of the Annual Conference is “Dynamic security and positive relationship between the inmates and the prison staff”. The members will also discuss the contents of and further cooperation in the joint project for which the European Commission approved the funding this week.
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Run from Prejudices – Yellow Ribbon Run in Prague
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Honza spent three years in prison. Back in normal life he wanted to close the door to the criminal past and open a new one to start a new chapter in his life. Thus he and his mother joined the Yellow Ribbon Run and ran together for a better future. Do you believe in second chances? Get registered, come to Prague and enjoy the Yellow Ribbon Run with us.
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Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation - Save the date
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The Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation (FNPP) expert group met on
12 & 13 March
in Brussels.
The experts shared current challenges in their work, like facilitating the contact with families, advantages and disadvantages of Foreign Nationals only prisons, the underrepresentation of Foreign Nationals in probation compared to FN in prisons. The experts also delivered input to the contents of the third joint EuroPris and CEP
workshop on Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation,
taking place
in The Hague on 9-10 October.
Practitioners, policy makers, ngo’s and academics are targeted participants.
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ICT expert group summary report
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At the meeting in Helsinki on
12-13 December
the ICT experts formed a new group and had an insightful discussion on their current ICT projects in their jurisdiction. Furthermore the group decided on the topics of reports they will draft the coming two years. They also made preparations for the ICT workshop taking place in
Stockholm on 22-24 May
. The summary report of the ICT meeting is now available on our website.
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Seminar on Risk Assessment to prevent radicalisation
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The EU-Council of Europe Radicalisation Prevention Project aims at improving the criminal justice response in the EU to prevent terrorism and violent extremism. On
15-16 March
a seminar is arranged on the topic of penitentiary and judiciary risk assessment tools. The seminar is the first of a series of three to be organised under the project, aiming at mutual learning, exchange of good practices and cooperation. The seminar is being held in
Strasbourg
and will gather core actors in the field of radicalisation prevention.
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The final report from FORINER – Providing distance education for foreign national prisoners in their native language – is now published. The document presents the results of the different pilots within the project. The concluded FORINER model for distance education is also described and the report provides policy recommendations on both European and national levels.
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Seminar on
Rehabilitation and Alternative Sanctions to Detention for Radicalised Individuals
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During this EU-funded event on
8-9 March in Utrecht
, organised by the Academy of European Law, participants analysed alternative probationary measures and the reintegration into society of radicalised individuals. National rehabilitation methods and programmes in relation to foreign fighters and the supervision and transfer of prisoners were evaluated and discussed along with risk assessment of individuals. Trainers and participants engaged in an intensive exchange of knowledge and best practice leading to recommendations for further improvements of rehabilitation procedures at national level.
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First MenACE training accomplished
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The MenACE project on mental health, palliative care and aging in prisons is currently testing the training modules that were developed during the past months. In March, 16 participants went through the first transnational staff training event of the project in Bruges, Belgium. Trainers came from the University of Beira (Portugal) and the Hospice Casa Sperantei (Romania). Among the participants were psychologists, medical and prison staff.
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R2PRIS presented to the European Commission
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At the European Commission conference on Radicalisation on
27 February in Brussels,
Pedro das Neves was invited to present the R2PRIS project. He presented the background and objectives of the project and explained the tools that were developed to identify and understand signs of radicalisation and the training program that is under development. R2PRIS was one of three projects that were presented at the conference on Radicalisation in Prisons arranged by the European Commission (see above).
For further info about the R2PRIS project, please visit:
www.r2pris.org
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EuroPris Family Relations Workshop
International Correctional Research Symposium
8-10 May - Prague, Czech Republic (
Read more
)
EuroPris ICT Workshop
22-24 May - Stockholm, Sweden (Registration will open on
20 March
)
COPE Conference
EPTA Annual Conference
EuroPris 7th Conference & Annual General Meeting
23rd CDPPS
CJP Summer Course
Foreign Nationals in Prison & Probation workshop
9-10 October - The Hague, Netherlands
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1. Updated State of Play: EU Framework Decisions
909;
947;
829;
2009/829/JHA;
3. Information on Prison Conditions in EU Countries -
View here
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European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EUROPRIS)
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EuroPris
P.O. Box 13635
2501 EP The Hague
Netherlands
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