The 5th edition of the International Criminal Justice Summer Course is dedicated to ‘Mental Health Issues in Criminal Justice’. Mental health problems are more prevalent among offenders than in the average population, but assessment and efficient responses and support in prison, during probation, and in restorative justice remain a field to be further developed. Characteristics of mental health issues, dealing with substance use, suicide prevention, trauma-informed practices, as well as, staff mental well-being are all topics relevant to this course. It will be a unique international opportunity to meet professionals from different disciplines of the criminal justice field (prison, probation, and restorative justice). The course will take place in Barcelona, at the Centre for Legal Studies and Specialised Training on 4-7 July.

Meet a EuroPris expert – this is the motto of our new event. EuroPris is organising a roundtable of experts, kindly hosted by the Finnish Prison and Probation Service in Helsinki, Finland on 17-18 October 2023. In this meeting, EuroPris experts will meet with other European ICT experts working in the prison field. The agenda will consist of an expert-level exchange on pressing issues in digitalisation in European prisons. There will also be a Q&A session with EuroPris experts sharing what it is like to be in an expert group at EuroPris, what does it mean to be a EuroPris expert? How can you get involved in EuroPris? There will also be a visit to Hämeenlinna Smart Prison where the Finnish Prison and Probation Service will present its concept in relation to the development of digital smart technology. Click on the button below for more information about the event.

What works in prisons to prevent politically motivated crime? How successful are existing prison regimes, assessment tools, and reintegration measures for violent extremism offenders? During this workshop participants will be able to share lessons learned from the last 10 years of PCVE development in prisons. The workshop will conclude this work and make recommendations for the future. The workshop will be in Rome on 14-15 November 2023. This will be a closed-door event of 40 prison professionals from the European region. The official event page will be available soon.

How to manage daily activities of prisoners in remand under communication restrictions? In this feature article, Mikko Tasanto, Senior Prison Officer at Vantaa Prison in southern Finland discusses his experiences of prisoners with communication restrictions in remand. He investigated how communications were restricted by an order of a district court in two different wards in Vantaa Prison. The aim was to find out whether remand prisoners with communication restrictions participated in activities and how the activities affected them. 

EuroPris supports the European Penitentiary Training Academies Network (EPTA) which organised its first training on 17-18 May 2023, and was kindly hosted by the Irish Prison Service College and coordinated by Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC). In this training, 24 participants from 9 European countries gathered at the Irish Prison Service College in Portlaoise to undertake 2 days of training on Restorative Practices. Restorative practices are a language and practices that help to develop positive relationships in a community, understand each other‘s needs and perspectives, solve problems to prevent conflict from occurring and resolve conflict in a healthy way when it arises. As a result of the training, lively discussions took place as the training was very interactive, and communicative The Cross-Border Training is part of the EPTA II project, which is co-funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme. Click below to read more about the training.

The European Prison Rules, adopted by the Council of Europe, set out standards on the management of prisons and the treatment of people in prison. They apply in all Council of Europe member States and provide critical guidance to prison staff on how to protect and safeguard the human rights of people in prison – from admission to release. This guidance document can be used as a reference document and as a resource for reviewing legislation, developing policies and in training criminal justice actors and other relevant stakeholders in Europe. It brings together the most recent knowledge and international experience to guide legislators, policymakers, prison authorities, monitoring bodies, probation services, social welfare and healthcare services, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders. Examples of promising practices from Council of Europe member states are included to illustrate implementation of standards, inspire solutions, generate new thinking, and point to new tools and resources. Click below to view the guidance documents.

The European Forum on Restorative Justice is organising a Summer School on the subject of "Restorative Justice and Prisons". For this summer course they are calling for professionals working in prisons who are seeking to expand their knowledge on the use of restorative justice and its safe and high-quality use. The training will be facilitated by Bart Claes (Belgium) and Roberto Moreno (Basque country/Spain) who both set up exceptional restorative programmes with the participation of prisoners. The event will take place on 24-28 July in Varna, Bulgaria. For more program and registration click on the link below.

Following the EuroPris Annual General Meeting in Seville last year, the Irish Prison Service reached out to their colleagues in Ukraine to offer humanitarian aid. They agreed to donate a generator to show their support for their effort against the war. After a long engagement regarding the transportation logistics with various agencies shipping arrangements were finalised in April this year. Through collaboration with the ESPWA charity and the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, the generator left the Irish Prison Service Headquarters on 28 April 2023 and was successfully delivered to the Kharkiv region on 10 May 2023 to be used in the Temni facility.