Projects
CEP matchmaker project
CEP Matchmaker Project brings together individuals, teams, organisations, or groups among CEP members with a shared professional interest. Through peer-to-peer links and activities, the aim is to provide opportunities for sharing, exchanging and learning together as well as potential other benefits.
In the Matchmaker Project, an individual or team of officers with a particular curiosity or expertise in a field of work can ask CEP to make contact with colleagues to establish a link with others with shared interests or knowledge. For example, teams working in a rural area, with prisoners on release from custody or supervising older persons could seek others sharing similar challenges in other jurisdictions to share experiences, learn from each other and establish their own engagement.
The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) was established in 1981 as a network of European probation organisations to share knowledge, exchange expertise and support developments in the field of community sanctions in Europe.
CEP members and their staff represent a unique reservoir of knowledge and expertise about positive ways of working with people who offend to promote rehabilitation, reduce re-offending and make communities safer. Most importantly, CEP facilitates its members in working together, sharing expertise, learning with and supporting each other.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, CEP and its members were innovators in sustaining that positive engagement and sharing. Social media, new technology, greatly increased levels of remote working and online meetings and conversations have sustained that contact. The CEP newsletter features working during Covid-19 and, more recently, the Day in the Life of a Probation Officer articles that have attracted huge readerships and exceptional interest. There is a clear strong desire among CEP members to learn more about how others, in similar posts, work and live in other countries.
The CEP Matchmaker Project has been developed from ideas and suggestions by CEP members. It seeks to harness that curiosity and use the new communications media to facilitate direct contact, sharing of experiences and learning opportunities among members.
In the Matchmaker Project CEP will act as a contact point and matchmaker between interested members and their staff to bring people together. It will establish contacts and links between services, teams or individuals with common interests and curiosity to meet up with each other to share and explore experiences together. Once in contact, the members will determine the topics, mode of contact, level of engagement and any development.
If you or your organisation are interested in participating in the Matchmaker Project please contact the CEP secretariat: secr@cep-probation.org.
CEP is ready to facilitate and provide support for exchanging and mutual learning!
Our knowledge of Interagency Coorperation
Related News
Check out the latest news and updates on this project’s focus area.
CEP Events
CEP presents the four winners of the CEP Awards 2025
27/10/2025
During the General Assembly aand CEP Conference on Gender-Based Violence in Vienna, Austria, CEP presented the four CEP Awards to its winners With the awards, CEP would like to celebrate outstanding contributions to probation within Europe. We were glad to receive all the impressive submissions of which the following winners are chosen. Congratulations!
CEP Board
Meet the CEP Board
22/10/2025
The General Assembly takes place every three years. The last General Assembly was held on 15 October 2025 in Vienna, Austria.
The CEP Board has a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer and a maximum of eight ordinary Board members. The General Assembly elects the President, two Vice-Presidents and a minimum of three and a maximum of five other board members from among its members. Three members may be appointed by the Board from among the full or associated members to ensure that the specific expertise and interests are represented. The Board appoints the Treasurer, who can be a board member or an ex-officio board member of which an explanation is given in the internal regulations.
CEP Events, CEP members, Gender-based violence
CEP 15th General Assembly and International Conference on Gender-Based Violence in Probation
16/10/2025
From 14 to 16 October 2025, Vienna hosted the 15th CEP General Assembly and the CEP International Conference on Gender-Based Violence in Probation: Challenges and Lessons Learned. The event, organized in cooperation with NEUSTART, brought together over 100 CEP members, probation professionals, policymakers, and researchers from across Europe to reflect, exchange experiences, and discuss the topic of gender-based violence from the perspective of probation, restorative justice and prison.
Probation in Europe
New Vodcast Episode: Leo Tigges on Probation Capacity Building
09/10/2025
The 15th episode of Division_Y features Leo Tigges, a freelancing consultant and former Secretary General of the Confederation of European Probation (CEP).
In this episode, host Jo Tein (CEP board member) speaks with Leo about his professional journey and his co-authored publication with Steve Pitts on Probation Capacity Building. The discussion highlights international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and strategies for strengthening probation systems across Europe.
▶️ Watch the full interview (English with German subtitles) below
Framework Decisions
CEP Updates Framework Decision 947 Guides
06/10/2025
CEP has released updated versions of its guides for persons under probation supervision and for probation staff, reflecting its continued commitment to cross-border cooperation in criminal justice. These revisions aim to promote broader use of Framework Decision 947, which facilitates the mutual recognition of probation measures and alternative sanctions across EU member states.
The guides are to be found here.
ITSCCS
Building Core Skills, Building Connections: V edition of the ITSCCS 2025 in Barcelona
03/10/2025
Barcelona was the stage for the CEP International Training School on Core Correctional Skills (ITSCCS) 2025, held from 29 September to 3 October. Over five days, the Centre d’Estudis Jurídics i Formació Especialitzada became a hub for practitioners eager to sharpen the practical tools that define effective work in the criminal justice field.
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