Core document
Probation in Europe
Operating in the field of European probation can be difficult with all the different and fast developing probation systems that are active in all the European countries. This part of the knowledgebase contains all sorts of information about the probation systems in the countries, the Framework Decisions, foreign nationals and the Council of Europe rules and recommendations on probation and more.
Probation Systems
Discover the probation systems across Europe, featuring details about each country’s member organisation, the scope of probation work, Case Management System Maps where available, and a chapter from the Probation in Europe 1927 book.
Council of Europe Rules & Recommendations
The most recently updated recommendations, conventions and guidelines published by the Council of Europe on probation are listed on this page.
Council of Europe Probation Rules
Key Council of Europe Conventions and Recommendations
Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on electronic monitoring
Published in 2014
Guidelines for prison and probation services regarding radicalisation and violent extremism
Published in 2016
Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the European Rules on community sanctions and measures
Published in 2017
Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8 of the Committee of Ministers to member States concerning restorative justice in criminal matters
Published in 2018
Guidelines regarding recruitment, selection, education, training and professional development of prison and probation staff
Published in 2019
Compendium of conventions, recommendations and resolutions relating to prisons and community sanctions and measures
Published in 2020
Recommendation
Published in 2024
Commentary
Published in 2024
Framework decisions
The European Union and the Council of Europe have become increasingly important players in the development of probation in Europe. CEP is not only the voice of probation in Europe, it also wants to stimulate and support initiatives of international cooperation on probation and on the implementation of EU regulations. Below you will find all the information about the implementation of Framework Decisions 2009/829/JHA and 2008/947/JHA.
Probation in Europe Research
The most recently updated recommendations, conventions and guidelines published by the Council of Europe on probation are listed on this page.
SPACE
Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics, better known as SPACE (Statistiques Pénales Annuelles du Conseil de l’Europe) consist in two related projects. SPACE I provides data on imprisonment and penal institutions annually since 1983. SPACE II collects data on non-custodial sanctions and measures since 1992 (annually since 2009).
These statistics are provided by a network of national correspondents working at the prison and probation services of the 47 Council of Europe member States. They are currently verified, processed and analysed by a team of researchers at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. SPACE is a world-wide known project which is a valuable source of comparative information and data used by international organisations, national authorities, policy makers, practitioners and experts working in the penal field.
The European sourcebook
The European Sourcebook Group is a group of experts that produces on a regular basis the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. The first European Sourcebook project started in 1996. In that year the Council of Europe established a committee to prepare a compendium of crime and criminal justice data for its Member States.
Other research reports
CEJFE The specialised training of psychologists involved in the implementation of sanctions and maesures
Psychologists
CEJFE The specialised training of psychologists involved in the implementation of sanctions and maesures
Social educators
CEJFE The specialised training of psychologists involved in the implementation of sanctions and maesures
Social workers
Accreditation of Offender Programmes
The Social Reintegration of Ex-Prisoners
In Council of Europe Member States
The Social Reintegration of Ex-Prisoners
In Council of Europe Member States Executive Summary and recommendations
Resettlement research and practices. An international perspective
Written by Ioan Durnescu
The quality of probation supervision
A literature review: summary of key messages
Changing Lives?
Desistance Research and Offender Management
Desistance Research and Criminal Justice Social Work
Reforming Women’s Justice
Final report of the Women’s Justice Taskforce
Realising Potential: Community service, prosocial modelling and desistance
Roma Mentoring
Risk Assessment Guide for Violence Against Women Perpetrated by Their Partner or Former Partner
Study regarding the development of an integrated inter-institutional mechanism for the social reintegration of former convicts
Probation in Europe Book
The idea of describing the probation systems around Europe is not something new. The first attempt was the book ‘Probation in Europe’ written by Thomas William Trought and published in 1927 (Trought, 1927). The book mainly dealt with questions about what probation is and how it can be defined. This book is now available on the CEP website, together with other ‘Probation in Europe’ publications.
In 2008 an updated version of the book ‘Probation in Europe’ was published, written by Anton van Kalmthout and Ioan Durnescu. Click on the button to go to the page where you can download the chapters
Case Management System Maps
In 2011, the European project DOMICE delivered schematic overviews of the case management in probation in almost every jurisdiction in Europe. As a part of CEP’s initiative to enhance the implementation and use of the Framework Decisions on the transfer of probation sanctions and of alternatives to pre-trial detention, these overviews are currently being updated and upgraded. The updated maps give a general understanding of how a probation system works in a very accessible way.
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