Peter Hennephof, General Director of the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency
EuroPris: Could you tell us about your career path? Why have you chosen to work in the prison and correctional field? Peter Hennephof: I am person of the public domain, even in my time as a consultant I was working for the public good. This is also why I re-entered the Dutch government in the Ministry of Social Affairs. I am interested in people organisations, and this only increased since I started working at the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI). As a sector, there is relatively little known about the prison and correctional field. My aim is to help put in the spotlight the case which we stand for. How many Prison establishments do you oversee? DJI has 59 establishments in total. There are 4 different groups of inmates in these institutions [...].
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From Vision to Reality - Transforming Scotland's Care of Women in Custody
On 27-29 May 2015, the Scottish Prison Service hosted an international symposium in Edinburgh to consider the future direction of custody for women in Scotland. The Symposium saw delegates from around the world come together to help to inform thinking on the development and implementation of a new Scottish approach to the custody of women.
The symposium used a deliberative approach, seeking to understand different social, legal and policy contexts and probing policy and practice across different jurisdictions. The presentations and the results of the deliberations are summarised in the symposium report.
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5th EuroPris Annual Conference and General Meeting
The 5th EuroPris Conference and Annual General Meeting was co-hosted by the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency together with EuroPris on 13 June 2016 in Zaandam, the Netherlands.
The morning conference had presentations of the EuroPris expert groups and a panel discussion on Overcrowding and (pre-trial) Detention Conditions. In the afternoon EuroPris (potential) members discussed the Annual reports of 2015, the planning for the coming year and decided that starting in 2017 there will no longer be a difference between Full and Affiliated members. Also, following elections, EuroPris has two new Board Members. Detailed information about the conference, elections results, presentations and photos can be found on the EuroPris website.
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EuroPris ICT in Prison Workshop
The 3rd EuroPris ICT in Prison Workshop took place on 29-30 June 2016 in Sintra, Portugal, hosted by the Portuguese Prison and Probation Service. The event was attended by 68 participants from 22 countries. The participants had the chance to discuss in depth in break out sessions topics such as: Telemedicine, Connecting the inmate to the digital world, Looking into the future, Cloud and data protection and internet, Video-conferencing, Tender Management. Presentations from the Workshop are available for download are available here.
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Council of Europe Conference of Prison and Probation Directors in Zaandam
The key note speeches at the opening of the conference on 14th June addressed the two main topics of the conference - communities and children of prisoners. How can prison and probation services work co-productively with and mobilise resources of the civil society? And how should community be understood? This was elaborated in the presentation of Beth Weaver (University of Strathclyde). Lucy Gampell of Children of Prisoners Europe presented the negative impact that parental imprisonment has on over two million children in Europe and how simple steps taken by prison management can achieve significant positive changes for the children and their families. Read closing comments by Vivian Geiran. For more info click here.
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Annual Conference European Forum for Restorative Justice
Under the title 'Realising Restorative Justice - human rights and personal realities' the annual conference of the EFRJ took place from 22-24 June in Leiden, Netherlands. Themes included children's rights, victims' and offenders' rights, the refugee crisis and radicalization - focusing on how restorative justice may positively contribute to these issues. Restorative justice can play an active role in contributing to the protection and empowerment of vulnerable groups, and in encouraging a social dialogue around the current refugee issue, counteracting radicalisation and extreme violence with alternative solutions. EuroPris presented at the conference on the added value of cooperating with EFRJ and CEP in the Criminal Justice Platform. More information here.
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Children of Prisoners Europe Conference and Campaign
The COPE Conference 'Children with a parent in conflict with the law: What are their best interests? How can they be met?' took place on Friday 20 May 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia. Important outcomes of the conference were amongst others addressing tailor-made solutions for the child, the need for integrated data collection schemes and the role of media in preventing stigmatisation and respecting the right of privacy. Click here for the full report and presentations. In June COPEs annual' campaign 'Not my crime, still my sentence' focused on the Italian MoU that initiated major improvements for children visiting their incarcerated parents. This MoU is now available in 8 languages. See results of the campaign here.
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Annual Conference Victims Support Europe
VSE organised its annual conference on 25 & 26 May in Utrecht, Netherlands under the theme 'Taking victims support to the next level: connect and commit' with a focus on two issues: what is necessary to connect the victim support organisations in Europe and what is necessary to bring victim support in the European Union to a higher level. EuroPris, CEP and EFRJ organised a joint workshop at the conference. On behalf of EuroPris, Walter Burke, Victims liaison officer in the Irish Prison Service presented his work with victims, families and the use of Restorative Justice. For his report please see link report. For more information and presentations click here.
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EuroPris/CEP Foreign National Prisoner Workshop 24-25 November
Foreign national offenders continue to pose particular challenges to those who are working with them in the custodial and community setting. The workshop addresses interests and needs of experts from Prison, Probation and the voluntary sector and provides for an opportunity to listen to and learn from practices of their European colleagues.
In close co-operation with the Belgian Prison Service, the joint EuroPris and CEP Foreign National Prisoners Expert Group have organized a range of key note presenters from across Europe, including prison and probation practitioners, voluntary sector working with prisoners abroad as well as university lecturers and researchers. View draft Agenda.
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European Prison Regime Forum 14 - 15 December - save the date
EuroPris in cooperation with the EPRF Steering Group and the Bulgarian Prison Service is organising the European Prison Regime Forum workshop from 14-16 December in Sofia. The workshop is open for experts from prison services (public sector only), ngo's and universities. The workshop agenda is currently under development and will address topics such as: How is work organised inside and outside of prisons? Education and certification of prisoners? Salary and conditions of employment? Working with external services? Further information and start of registration for participation at the workshop will be announced at the beginning of September.
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European Prison Training Academies - Annual conference in Kalisz, Poland
The Annual EPTA conference will take place on 15 & 16 November in Kalisz, Poland. European Prison Training Academies will meet to share recent developments in prison staff training. One full day will be dedicated to share training programs that deal with the issue of radicalisation and violent extremism. The need for this was also part of the outcome of the EC Symposium on Radicalization in relation to prison staff training on 20th May in Brussels. At the EPTA conference a cooperation agreement with EuroPris will be signed. More details to follow in our next newsletter and website.
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International seminar 'Working with young adult offenders'
The International Seminar on 'Working with young adult offenders' (16-18 years old) is organised by CEP in close co-operation with the Directorate of Correctional Service of Norway (KDI) and the Staff Academy (KRUS). The Seminar will take place in Lillestrøm, Norway, 31st August- 1st September. The program, which will run as a lunch-to-lunch seminar and will combine plenary sessions and workshops with specific themes. More information about the program can be found here.
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Narrowing the Disconnect - the Ethics of Supporting Desistance from Crime
The Cork Alliance Center is organizing on 15 & 16 September an international conference as a follow up to the successful 2013 conference 'The journey of desistance'. The Alliance Center works in partnership with the Irish Prison and Probation Service and directors of both Services will address the conference. Central to the conference will be the lived experience of past and present Cork Alliance Center Service Users through five individual presentations and the premier showing of a new documentary made with Service Users. For more information and registration please click here.
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First Family Relations Expert Group Meeting
On 18 & 19 May the first meeting of the Family relations expert group was organized in cooperation with the Croatian Prison Service in Zagreb. Besides the ten prison experts two representatives of Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) participated and shared their experiences. The meeting was just ahead of the COPE annual conference to enable our experts to participate at both events. Inspired by the Irish model the group decided to draft until the end of 2016 a collection of best practices around five main topics: Visiting facilities, physical structure; Community involvement; Communication; Intervention programs and Staff training. Meeting Report, presentations and all the materials of the Family Relations expert meeting can be downloaded here.
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Real Estate Expert Group Report
A subgroup of the Real estate and Logistics expert group met 20-22 April in the Netherlands to discuss and in-depth investigate on the subject of Private Public Partnership. The meeting was co-hosted by the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency. As a result of a meeting a report was drafted elaborating the what, why, how and when to use PPP for cooperation between the government and the private sector in the construction of new prisons. The report also discusses the different types and phases of PPP, as well as lessons learned and conclusions. The full report can be downloaded here.
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ICT Expert Group Meeting
The ICT Expert Group had a short meeting on 28 June 2016 in Sintra, Portugal, in preparation of the ICT in Prisons Workshop on 29-30 June. The group has discussed the agenda for the following days, possible topics for the next Technology in Corrections Conference in 2017 and also the three papers that the group will develop on: Cloud and Data Protection; Telemedicine; Cooperation between the Police and Penal System. Reports will be published on the website and in the September 2016 newsletter.
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Academy of European Law
On 26 & 27 October the third seminar in a series of five co-funded by the European Commission on issues related to detention will focus on the impact of detention on prisoners. Key topics that will be addressed are: Impact assessment of detention on prisoners: comparison of different practices in Member States; Focus on juvenile justice in relation to detention and the planned Directive on the rights of children suspected or accused in criminal proceedings; Application and correct use of Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA on the transfer of prisoners. For further information and registration click here.
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FORINER
The EU funded Erasmus+ FORINER project is looking for prisons and education providers in Europe to take part in pilots they will be establishing across Europe, to run from January to August 2017. The project will be testing how European prisoners serving sentences outside their own country can benefit from distance learning opportunities provided from educational providers and prisons from their own country. The distance learning may be provided in a variety of ways including via digital and web-based options. If you are interested in being considered as a pilot partner, please check on the website www.foriner.eu the 'Pilot Information Sheet' and the 'Pilot partner form' or contact the Foriner Project Manager [email protected].
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IDECOM
Within the Project the national training courses in Romania "Develop prison staffs' innovation" have started with employees from different prison departments (guards, administrative and social reintegration staff) from Turkish and Moldavian prison systems. The aim of the present course is to increase prison staff's capacity to understand, mobilise and manage a more efficient educational environment inside prisons. Read more
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Innovative learning models for prisoners
Following the research project 'Prison education basic skills blended learning' University of Florence published the book 'Innovative learning models for prisoners' that is free of charge and available for download here. The publication looks at the learning potential in prisons and reports on innovative (e-) learning pathways for basic skills education as designed and tested in Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Romania. Research investigated on what counts as 'educational' in such a complex context and how to combine relevant pieces in a 'learning mosaic'. The authors argue that such an approach may be adopted in a wider European context within the frame of dynamic security.
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Call for Tenders for the Provision of Services of Consultancy
The Call for expertise for consultancy services on police and penitentiary reform, including psychiatric establishments, in South-East Europe, under the Horizontal Facility umbrella, has been published on 4th July. This call-off is related to the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Montenegro, Serbia as well as Kosovo*. The call can be accessed here.
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Working with Young Adults, International Conference [More info]
31 August - 1 September 2016, Lillestrøm, Norway
Narrowing the Disconnect - the Ethics of Supporting Desistance from Crime [More info]
15 -16 September 2016, Cork City, Ireland
ICPA 18th Annual Conference
23-28 October 2016, Bucharest, Romania
The Impact of Detention on Prisoners, ERA Seminar [More info]
27 - 28 October 2016, Madrid, Spain
Alternatives to Detention - Criminal Justice Platform
3-4 November 2016, Barcelona, Spain
European Prison Training Academies Annual Conference [More info]
15 -16 November, Kalisz, Poland
EuroPris/CEP Workshop Foreign Nationals in Prison [More info]
24-25 November 2016, Brugge, Belgium
Victims Workshop - Criminal Justice Platform
7-8 December 2016, Brussels, Belgium
European Prison Regime Forum Workshop [More info]
14-15 December 2016, Sofia, Bulgaria
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1. Updated State of Play: EU Framework Decisions 909; 947; 829; 2. Competent Authorities for Framework Decisions 2008/909/JHA, 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA; 3. Declarations by Member State for Framework Decisions 2008/909/JHA, 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA; 4. FD 909 prisoner transfer information form; [ Download] 5. EuroPris Annual General Meeting, Presentations [ Download] 6. EuroPris ICT in Prisons Workshop, Presentations [ Download] 7. EuroPris Family Relations Expert Group, Presentations [ Download] 8. EuroPris Expert Group Report - Public Private Partnership [ Download] 9. Agenda Foreign National in Prisons Workshop [ Download] 10.Prison Work Models Critical Review - ECOPRIS Project [ Download] 11. Working Group Report EuroPris Expert Group Framework Decision 909 [ Download] 12. Staff Training Needs Analysis Study - IDECOM Project [Download]
13. Global Prison Trends, Penal Reform International [Download]
14. Innovative Learning Models for Prisoners [Download]
15. Imprisonment worldwide, by Andrew Coyle, Helen Fair, Jessica Jacobson,
16. PROPOSAL to Rwanda to provide consultative services on training [ More info]
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