Skip to content

News

Recap: CJPE Summer School 2023

From the 4th  until the 7th  of July 2023, the Criminal Justice Platform Europe organised the 5th edition of the Criminal Justice Summer Course with the Centre of Legal Studies and Specialised Training in Barcelona. This year’s theme was ‘Mental Health Issues in Criminal Justice’.

Edit Törzs (ERFJ), Gustav Tallving (EuroPris) and Jana Spero (CEP)

The Summer Course consisted of a combination of plenary sessions, workshops, seminars and field visits bringing together participants with a background in prison, probation and restorative justice from various European and World Wide countries. The aim of the Summer Course is to offer a unique opportunity for criminal justice colleagues from different jurisdictions to reflect and learn new approaches on how to better work with offenders, victims and communities to prevent and reduce the impact of crime.

This year, the focus was on practice: what works – new ideas – restorative methods –trauma-informed practices – research – the mental health of staff working in critical occupations – workshops – practice visits – sharing experience. The aim was that participants bring their expertise and, through engaging with the courses, became better equipped and informed about current approaches and effective interventions.

John Stafford and Laura Bowden

In this course, each organisation member of CJPE addressed the topic of Mental Health Issues in Criminal Justice from a different but complementary angle:

– The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) focussed on mental health challenges in closed correctional settings and on how to create a safer environment;

– The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) explored factors that contribute to mind health, brain and nervous system, the impact of trauma, staff resilience in a critical occupation and presentation of researches in this field with a focus on probation;

– The European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) will offer a course on trauma-informed practice in criminal justice, focusing on restorative justice.

 

 

Plenary presentations available are the following:

– Seena Fazel, Professor of forensic psychiatry at the University of Oxford – Mental disorders and crime – how can we improve the assessment and treatment to prevent reoffending?

– Annie Devos, Director-General of the Houses of Justice in Wallonia-Brussels Federation (Belgium). She also acts as CEP President and Vice-President of the Council for penological cooperation (PC-CP) – The Council of Europe White paper on the management of offenders with mental health disabilities and disorders.

Pictures can be found on Facebook.

 

Marc Céron (CEJFE) , Edit Törzs (ERFJ), Gustav Tallving (EuroPris) and John Stafford

 

 

Related News

Keep up to date with the latest developments, stories, and updates on probation from across Europe and beyond. Find relevant news and insights shaping the field today.

New

CEP

Delegation from Azerbaijan visits CEP Office in Utrecht

24/06/2026

On 23 June, a delegation from Azerbaijan visited the CEP office in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The delegation included representatives of the Probation Service, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan and representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Netherlands. The visit to the CEP office was part of a broader learning programme with Reclassering Nederland.

New

CEP, Directors General Meetings

CEP Call for Applications – Training Opportunity for Directors General 

24/06/2026

CEP is seeking 7 applications for an upcoming training programme, CEP Leadership Excellence Training, designed for a small group of Directors General or Deputy Directors General representing CEP member organisations. This training will take place on 19-21 October 2026, Zagreb, Croatia.

 

Probation Journal

Framework Decisions

Exploratory Study on the possible Lisbonisation of ex-third pillar acquis in the area of mutual recognition in criminal matters published

23/06/2026

Commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST) and undertaken by ICF SA in December 2023, the study, published in April 2026, assesses the mutual recognition of criminal decisions and cross-border cooperation on criminal matters.  

Recap

Communication and Awareness-Raising

Expert Group on Communication and Awareness-Raising

18/06/2026

On 16–17 June 2026, the CEP Expert Group on Communication and Awareness Raising met in Bristol, United Kingdom, for a face-to-face meeting. The meeting was hosted by Interventions Alliance and chaired by Michael Baker, Deputy Chief Executive and Lead for Research and Communications, who also leads the Expert Group. Suki Binning, Chief Executive Officer of Interventions Alliance, also joined parts of the programme and welcomed the group during the visit.

Recap

CEP members

CEP visits member Interventions Alliance

18/06/2026

On 16 June 2026, CEP Secretary General Jana Spero Kamenjarin and Communications Officer Hannan Amnad visited Interventions Alliance in the United Kingdom. During the visit, they met with Suki Binning, Chief Executive Officer, Ellie MacCarter, Chief Officer for Operations, Graham Wines, Chief Officer – People and Professional Standards, and Michael Baker, Deputy Chief Executive and Lead for Research and Communications, who also serves as Chair of CEP’s Expert Group on Communication and Awareness-Raising.

New
Reading corner

Technology

Beyond the Headset: What the VR-TooL Pilot tells us about the future of probation training

18/06/2026

This initiative is funded through the Erasmus+ project “Virtual Reality: A Tool in the Treatment of Offenders and Education of Probation Officers,” implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation of Croatia, ESC from Romania, and BeCure from Germany. It focuses on two main components: the development of VR content for offender rehabilitation programmes and VR-based training for probation officers.

The VR content is grounded in Core Correctional Skills and is designed to support both practical skill development and a rehabilitative approach. Virtual reality is introduced as an innovative complement to existing practice, enhancing offender treatment and professional training while supporting, rather than replacing, personal interaction.

Subscribe to our bi-monthly email newsletter!