Newsletter
May 2018
EuroPris Interview
Jana Špero, Assistant Minister for Prisons and Probation at the Ministry of Justice: Prison Administration (Croatia)
What do you consider to be the biggest achievements for your service in 2016-2017?

We are particularly pleased to have alleviated the overcrowding in our correctional facilities and that we are managing the prison population in compliance with European standards. We are planning to further invest in the development of prison treatment programs and to continue expanding our partnerships to non-governmental organizations which are an important factor in the support of the reintegration and re-socialization processes of (former) prisoners.

Feature article:
Towards Pre-trial Detention as Ultima Ratio
More than 325.000 prisoners are held in pre-trial detention in the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe, whereof 100.000 are in the European Union. The growing number of cross border cases calls for increased transnational cooperation and mutual understanding. The DETOUR-project aimed at improving such understanding through the exploration and analysis of pre-trial detention practice, especially ways of reducing the use of pre-trial detention in the seven European jurisdictions of Austria, Germany, Romania, Belgium, Lithuania, Ireland and the Netherlands. Read more

EuroPris News
ICT workshop in Stockholm
On 22 - 24 May European experts will meet in Stockholm for the ICT Workshop. A full program with a number of parallel sessions will provide for good interactions. Smart prisons, prison statistics, implementation of GDPR: everything is set out to inform practitioners for the future. There will also be breakout sessions on daily prison business like payments in prison or videoconferencing for family visits. All hosted by the Swedish Prison and Probation Service with a visit to the Stockholm remand prison.

For more information click here .
Family Relations Workshop

At a EuroPris workshop in May in Vienna , 54 experts from all over Europe shared experiences on the topic of family relations and children of imprisoned parents. Community involvement, Intervention programs, Visiting facilities, Staff training and Communication were the main themes for the workshop. Next to that the workshop shared practices from among others Italy, Netherlands and Wales. The Council of Europe recommendation on children with imprisoned parents was presented as well as family strategies developed in Scotland and Ireland.


2 nd International Correctional Research Symposium: Cheap, quick and clear – is that how we want prison research?
This was one of the questions discussed during the Correctional Research Symposium organised by EuroPris and ICPA. The event was held in Prague earlier this month where 125 researchers and practitioners gathered to explore the theme “What is good prison research?” . The conference offered a unique opportunity for an active dialogue and mutual understanding between academics and prison managers on this subject. For more information please visit CRS website . The presentations will be published on the website later this month.
7th EuroPris Conference & Annual General Meeting in Estonia
This year the Annual General Meeting is kindly hosted by the Estonian Prison Service on 18 June in Johvi . The Prison Services from Croatia, France and Ireland will present and discuss the current challenges and developments in their jurisdictions. Also, four board positions are open for election and the nominations of Board candidates have to be submitted by the end of this week. 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.

Program launched for Summer course on radicalisation & VEO in Barcelona
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 different angles. 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 and includes study visits to prison, juvenile education centres, probation service and Restorative Justice teams.

Read more about the registration, workshop outline and program booklet.
Save the date – Workshop on Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation
The joint EuroPris and CEP expert group on Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation is planning for a workshop the 9 th and 10 th October in The Hague . It builds on the successful workshops in London 2014 and Bruges 2016. The workshop brings together practitioners, policy makers, voluntary groups and universities to discuss the specific challenges and needs of this specific group. Professor Marcelo Aebi of the University of Lausanne will present European statistics on Foreign Nationals. Workshop registration opens in June.
Save the date - European Prison Regime Forum
The long-time network of the European Prison Regime Forum had a restart with EuroPris in Sofia 2016 and in 2017 in Rome. To sustainably reinstall and to strengthen the EPRF and the Regime network, EuroPris and the Dutch Custodial Agency (DJI) will host a third EPRF event in a row in Utrecht, Netherlands . Participants will arrive on 27 November for an evening network event. Conference dates are 28-29 November with a prison visit on 29 th . The main theme will be focused around successful reintegration, how to realize continuity and how to measure outcomes. More information will be published on the EuroPris website at the end of June.
Other News 
EPTA annual conference open for registration
In 2018, under the French Presidency, the National Correctional Administration Academy will organise the EPTA Annual Conference 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”.

COPE conference - Keeping Children Connected
This is the theme for a conference about working with children with imprisoned parents, held in Manchester, UK, on 8 June . The conference will consider recent public policy milestones both on an international scale and within England and Wales. The changing role of technology will be explored throughout the conference for its potential in supporting child-parent relationships. Panel discussions will examine the position of the media, and how they contribute to public opinion. The event is hosted by POPS (Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group) in partnership with Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE).

New recommendations for supporting children with parents in prison
The Council of Europe recently passed its first policy guidelines aimed at safeguarding the rights and interests of children of imprisoned parents. This work has been actively supported by EuroPris’ expert group on Family Relations. The guidelines stress the importance of retrieving correct information about the children in each case. It also contains recommendations on communication and information as well as prison visits and prison leaves. A whole section is designated to how to handle infants in prison.


Norgerhaven experiences evaluated
In 2015 an international collaboration was arranged because of the fact that the Netherlands had a surplus of cell capacity, whilst Norway was experiencing a shortage of space for detainees. The Netherlands and Norway agreed to the placement of 242 Norwegian detainees in the Norgerhaven prison in Veenhuizen. This was an unorthodox way of solving a common problem in prison agencies, over- or undercrowding. The collaboration ends in 2018 and a group of leading academics performed a climate survey to measure the quality of life in Norgerhaven prison.

Real Life – serious gaming as pre-release training
Real Life training will take place from  18-22 June in Amsterdam, Netherlands .

Real Life is an online blended learning platform for (ex-) prisoners. Blended learning means a combination of offline and online tools to train 21st century skills. Real Life focuses specifically on the reintegration process and in particular the themes identity, leadership, agency and citizenship. The training is about 50 hours in total, including self-studies. The Real Life Pathways app allows detainees to create their own reintegration plan. For more information go to www.reallifeproject.eu or email Real Life coordinator Veronique Aicha Achoui, veronique@chainsinternational.com

Conference - The Society of Captives today
Published in 1958, Gresham Sykes’ The Society of Captives has become regarded as a cornerstone of prison sociology, with an unrivalled influence on the discipline. This conference marks the 60th anniversary of this classic text and seeks to critically assess the continued relevance of Sykes’ seminal work to contemporary penal scholarship. The conference will be held at the University of Leicester on June 27-28 . Click here for full program and here for registration .
European Football Championship for Prison Staff
Penitentiary Institutions of Moldova and the Moldovan Football Federation are hosting the 14th edition of the European Football Championships on the 18-22 June in Vadul lui Voda. The purpose of the tournament is to facilitate the creation of new friendship relations between law enforcement institutions and the countries they represent.

Romanian Prison Service Annual Report
“Where there is no force of law or authority of its defenders, there can be no freedom or safety for anyone.” This quote by William Shakespeare introduces the annual report for 2017 of the National Administration of Penitentiaries in Romania. The document is conceived through the strategic objectives assumed at institutional level and targets the achievements, the non-achievements and the prospects for the development of the future activity. The purpose of the English version is to contribute to a better understanding of the Romanian penitentiary system among international partners, including members of EuroPris.

EuroPris Expert Groups
Family Relations
The April workshop on Family relations in Vienna was the last activity of this expert group, who has shared many good practices with each other, but who also developed a Best Practice Collection that is published on the EuroPris website. With the recent approval of the CoE recommendation on children of imprisoned parents, the experts recommended to start a new group in cooperation with COPE (Children of Prisoners Europe) that should focus on the implementation of the recommendation, on the collection of data and multi-agency networking.
Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation
The expert groups consists of representatives from nine European countries and the latest addition to the group, Virginie Nouaille, comes from the French Prison and Probation Service. The group currently works on incorporating their collection of good practices (link) into an interactive e-learning training module. There is still a need for more examples of promising practices in prison and probation. If you like to share this please contact the expert group coordinator nickhammond@europris.org .
Project News
Staff training on radicalisation successfully completed
From the 16th to the 20th April 2018 the third short-term staff training of the Radicalisation Prevention in Prisons (R2PRIS) project was held in Brussels . The R2Pris project addresses the prevention of radicalisation in prisons through the further development and enforcement of the competences of prison staff. Several instruments and training programs have been developed. They are now been piloted through the partners in prisons in Norway, Romania, Turkey and Belgium.

Countering Terrorism and Preventing Radicalisation in Detention
The last seminar in ERA’s series on countering terrorism and preventing radicalisation in detention takes place in Trier on 28-29 June . Key topics will be an update on the EU’s anti-money laundering and asset recovery regime, latest developments in relation to information exchange and the use of ECRIS to counter terrorism and new approaches to prevent, deter and counter radicalisation in detention. Probation and alternative sanctions as means of preventing radicalisation, de-radicalising and rehabilitating offenders is also on the program.

Upcoming Events
EuroPris ICT Workshop
22-24 May - Stockholm, Sweden ( Read more )

COPE Conference
8 June - Manchester, United Kingdom ( Read more )

EPTA Annual Conference
13-14 June - Agen, France ( Read more )

EuroPris 7th Conference & Annual General Meeting
18 June - Jõhvi , Estonia ( Read more )

23rd CDPPS
19-20 June - Jõhvi , Estonia ( Read more )

CJP Summer Course
3-6 July - Barcelona, Spain ( Read more )

Foreign Nationals in Prison & Probation workshop
9-10 October - The Hague, Netherlands

European Prison Regime Forum
28-29 November - Utrecht, The Netherlands
Document Library
 
1. Updated State of Play: EU Framework Decisions  909947829;
2.  Competent Authorities for Framework Decisions 2008/909/JHA, 2008/947/JHA and
2009/829/JHA;
3. Information on Prison Conditions in EU Countries - View here
4. Family Relations Workshop - View Report and Presentations here
5. ICT expert meeting - View Notes here
6. European Prison Regime Forum - View Presentations and Report here
7. Workshop on Mental Health View Presentations here
8. FORINER project - View Final Report here
9. Towards Pre-Trial Detention as Ultima Ratio - View Article and Recommendations
European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EUROPRIS)
EuroPris
P.O. Box 13635
2501 EP The Hague
Netherlands