NEWSLETTER
September 2016

EuroPris Interview 
Celso Manata, Director General of the General Directorate of Probation and Prison Services Portugal

EuroPris: How many Prison establishments do you oversee?
Celso Manata: I oversee 49 prisons and 6 facilities for juveniles (meaning children that have committed a crime being at the time between 12 and 16 years old).
 
How many prisoners are in prison at the moment in Portugal?
At the end of 2015 we had 14222 prisoners and 151 juveniles deprived of liberty [...].

 
September Featured Article 
Foreign Prisoners In Europe: An Analysis Of The 2012 Council Of Europe Recommendation And Its Implications For International Penal Policy

Roisin Mulgrew is Assistant Professor at the School of Law of the University of Nottingham and member of the EuroPris/CEP expert group on Foreign Prisoners. In her article she, amongst others, analyses the penological and human rights implications of the CoE recommendation in relation to its objectives to reduce the number of foreigners in custody, improve the regime experienced by foreign offenders and enhance the prospects for their successful reintegration. It was thanks to her initiative that EuroPris together with the University of Nottingham and the Belgian Prison Service could organise the training on the CoE recommendation on 23 November in Bruges (see below).

 
EuroPris News
EPIS Training Workshop

EPIS (European Prison Information System) is the digital database on the EuroPris website containing data of European Prison Services. On 30 August 2016, EuroPris held the EPIS Training workshop, at the Czech Prison Service Training Facility in Straz pod Ralskem. The group was comprised of representatives from 10 European National Agencies (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Turkey). The aim of the training was to support prison staff, who are in charge of completing the data for their jurisdiction. The training participants learned how the system works and started to complete the profiles for their Prison Service. The training gave the participants a clear understanding on how they can work with EPIS and of the value of the system. The participants also provided valuable feedback for EuroPris and for the further improvement of the system.
EuroPris/CEP National Foreign Offenders Workshop. Registrations Open

Foreign national offenders continue to pose particular challenges to those who are working with them in the custodial and community setting. In close co-operation with the Belgian Prison Service, the joint EuroPris and CEP Foreign National Prisoners Expert Group organises a workshop on National Foreign Offenders on 24-25 November in Bruges, Belgium. The purpose is to promote better national regulation and best practice for Foreign National Offenders in Europe, through presentations that will be given on subjects such as: Management of FNO; trends and rates of foreigners in European Prisons from 2000-2016; interagency cooperation and cooperation with the Immigration Service; working with expelled offenders in Albania and Romania. View draft Agenda
For more information click here. 
Foreign National Prisoners Training Workshop

On 23 November EuroPris organises in cooperation with the University of Nottingham and the Belgian Prison Service a one-day workshop providing training on the Council of Europe Recommendation's provisions on Foreign Prisoners and exploring the challenges and best practices related to its implementation. The focus will be on regime improvement, rehabilitation/reintegration and staff training. The event will provide participants also with an opportunity to contribute to the development of a good practice manual and build a network with practitioners working in this field in other European countries.
Attendance to the training is by invitation only, having as target audience: officials responsible for designing and delivering training at the national prison academy and governors from a prison with a significant population of foreign prisoners. Read more
European Prison Training Academies - Annual conference in Kalisz, Poland

On 15-16 November the annual conference of the European Penitentiary Training Academies will take place in the main training institute of the Polish Prison Service in Kalisz. EuroPris and EPTA have been discussing to start a closer cooperation and are preparing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at this year's conference in Poland. One day of this conference will be dedicated to radicalisation prevention in prisons. A key driver in this process is the training and awareness raising of prison staff. EPTA is a suitable platform to start the discussion on training needs, training content and training methods as well as to collect information on existing trainings. More information about the EPTA conference will be published on the EuroPris website later this month.
European Prison Regime Forum - Save the Date

The European Prison Regime Forum is an annual event that has been organized since 1996. The focus of this Forum was mainly on prison work related issues. As a result of discussions with the EPRF Steering Group, it was agreed that this year the Forum will be organized for the first time by and operate in the future under the umbrella of EuroPris. The Bulgarian Prison Service has kindly offered to host the event that will take place on 14-15 December in Sofia. Presentations will include subjects such as skills and management of employees, employment opportunities through social enterprises, social issues around prison employment and marketing of prison products. In the beginning of October EuroPris will publish the official invitation and open the registration on our website. 
Alternatives to Detention, Criminal Justice Platform Workshop

With CEP in the lead, EuroPris and the European Forum for Restorative Justice co-organise as Criminal Justice Platform the workshop on Alternatives to Detention on 3 November in Barcelona. The workshop will enable experts in the field of criminal justice to consider the content and implications of the revised European Rules on Community Sanctions and Measures of the Council of Europe and to consider the latest developments in alternatives to detention across Europe's prison and probation systems. The event will be a combination of presentations and participative workshops. The draft agenda will be published and registrations for the event will be opened at the beginning of October. Speakers that are interested to present on the topics mentioned in the workshop announcement should contact kirstenhawlitschek@europris.org until 30 September.
Other News
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. Read here the report. 
Powerful Theatre in Female Prisons

Anna-Mari Laulumaa has been touring with her one-woman-show 'God Is in My Typewriter' in female prisons. The tour started from Riga, then to Sweden and finally to Finland. This first tour was such a good experience for her, for the staff and for the inmates that she hopes that she can make another tour with this performance to some other female prisons in Europe. After the performance discussions took place about the themes of the play. One staff member said with tears in her eyes that she had seldom seen these girls sitting so peacefully and fully concentrated for one hour. Anna-Mari thinks that the play reaches the audience and speaks the language they know or, maybe, even helps them to process their own experiences. If you are interested to invite Anna-Mari to a female prison in your country, read the whole story and find contact information following this link.
EuroPris Expert Groups
Family Relation Expert Group Report
 
The EuroPris expert group on Family relations is currently working on a report that will address the following key issues: Visiting facilities & physical structure; community involvement; communication; intervention programs and Staff training. For the staff training part of the report a KMS request was sent out on 5 August with the request to respond until 30 September. We would like to use this opportunity to encourage you to send us a response to this request. For any questions about this request please contact rodicapopa@europris.org. 
Real Estate and Logistics Expert Group Report

The real estate & logistics expert group met in April in Amsterdam to share and discuss information and experiences on Public Private Partnership when it comes to the construction of new prisons. What is PPP, why and when should it be applied, how to start and what are the different phases of PPP? As a result of the discussion the expert group drafted a report, which gives answers to these and more questions. The full report can be downloaded from the EuroPris website here. On 12-13 October the group will meet for the second time this year. At this meeting in Helsinki the members will give presentations and have discussions on prison design (criteria, standards, lessons learnt). Based on the input from the group a new report will be written and published later this year on the EuroPris website.
Prison Chaplaincy and Deradicalisation - Radicalisation Expert Group Report

The EuroPris Radicalisation Expert Group established the need for some guidance with regard to religious care in prison. Based on their own experiences and discussions with experts from other European jurisdiction, the expert group members from Germany, Dr. Hans Kieserling and Catalonia, Dr. Julio Zino drafted a document that was discussed and agreed at the following meeting of the group in 2016. The final result of this joint work are these general basic rules for prison chaplaincy and deradicalisation that should be seen as a non-binding, advisory reference document for prison practitioners in Europe. Download the report. 
EuroPris FD 909 Expert Group Working Report

On 09 and 10 May 2016, EuroPris and the European Commission jointly hosted the expert group for the transfer of sentenced prisoners under Framework Decision 909. Building on the previous EuroPris expert group meetings on the subject, all EU Member States were invited to attend for an EU-wide discussion on common issues, processes and practices in using the Framework Decision. In total 24 Member States were represented. EuroPris chaired the first day and the agenda included small group discussions. The meeting on 10 May was hosted by the European Commission. Full reports of both meetings are published on our website. 
Project News
New project: Mental health, Aging and palliative care in European prisons (MenACE)

The MenACE project aims to increase the response to mental health disorders within prisons and the quality of palliative and end of life care services provided by enhancing the competences of management and frontline staff to address prisoners' mental health needs and the special needs of older prisoners. To achieve the project goals, the MenACE partnership will develop a state of the art analysis and best practices review, followed by the development of a training toolkit with skills blueprint. Three training courses (e-learning; train-the-trainer) in three key areas of learning will be developed: (i) mental healthcare; (ii) suicide prevention; (iii) geriatrics and palliative care in prison. Afterwards, the partnership will create a European Roadmap with policy recommendations on these important topics. Further information on the project will follow in October on the EuroPris website.
FORINER - Project Conference and 'Last-Call' for pilot partners

The Foriner Project, funded through the EU Erasmus+ Programme, is studying how to improve the educational opportunities for foreign prisoners through access to distance learning provided by their home country. The Project is piloting how new methods of delivering such certified learning opportunities can best be delivered using web-based and other innovative options.
For those interested in foreign prisoners and prison education, places remain at the Foriner Project Conference in London on 11th and 12th October. Please check http://www.foriner.com for further information.There is also a "Last-Call" for prisons and educational providers who wish to be included in European pilots organised through the Foriner Project to test out new ways that foreign prisoners can access educational opportunities. Please contact foriner@vocvo.be if you are interested. 
IDECOM

IDECOM project aims at the development and implementation of new educational methods in the training of prison staff in transversal skills. In Timisoara prison, Romania, a pilot training course for prison staff has been implemented: "Develop prison staffs' innovation". After completing the training, Tthe trained Romanian staffed developed and implemented two innovative educational pilot actions with inmates: "Be innovative! A new chance waits you at one click away!" - focusing on helping inmates to find a job using the internet - and " If you drunk drive you change your destiny!" where a group of detainees sentenced for drunk driving were trained to work on promotional campaigns against drunk driving. 
Read more 
Academy of European Law Seminar

On 26-27 October in Madrid, Spain, the third seminar in a series of five co-funded by the European Commission on issues related to detention on issues related to detention will focus on the impact of detention on prisoners, as well as issues related to juvenile justice and detention, especially Directive (EU) 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, as well as issues surrounding the proper use of Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA on the transfer of prisoners. For further information and registration click here. 
Upcoming Events
Narrowing the Disconnect - the Ethics of Supporting Desistance from Crime [More info]
15 -16 September 2016, Cork City, Ireland

CEP General Assembly and Conference on Alternatives to Detention [More info]
5-7 October 2016, Bucharest, Romania

ICPA 18th Annual Conference [More info]
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

Foreign Nationals Prisoners Training Workshop [More info]
23 November 2016, Brugge, Belgium

EuroPris/CEP Workshop Foreign Offernders 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
Document Library
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. Agenda National Foreign Offenders Workshop [Download]
7. EuroPris Radicalisation Expert Group Report - Prison Chaplaincy [Download]
8. EuroPris Real Estate and Logistics Expert Group Report - Public Private Partnership [Download]
9. EuroPris FD 909 Expert Group - Working Group Report 2016  [Download] 
10.Prison Work Models Critical Review - ECOPRIS Project [Download]
11. Staff Training Needs Analysis Study - IDECOM Project [Download]
Contact Us
EuroPris
P.O. Box 13635 
2501 EP The Hague 
Netherlands
rodicapopa@europris.org
www.europris.org

EuroPris does not hold the view of external websites linked in the newsletter and neither is it responsible for the content of external websites.