Skip to content

News

Education behind foreign prison bars

Education is often not a part of a detention plan for foreign prisoners. This is one of the key findings of the report Education behind foreign prison bars, by Frans Lemmers, an external PhD candidate affiliated to the Criminal Law and Criminology Group at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University.

The report looks at educational programmes for foreign prisoners in European countries and  focuses on five results from a study of 24 contacts of the European Prison Education Association. The key findings of the report are: In practice, foreign prisoners are usually deprived of education, education is often not part of a detention plan for foreign prisoners, foreign prisoners who do participate in educational programmes often cannot continue or complete these programmes after their release, the prison authorities are dissatisfied with the current situation but do not think they can do anything about it and the recommendations of the Council of Europe are not implemented.

Download here the full report.

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.

Recap

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

New

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.

Recap

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.

Recap

Partners

CEP participated at the 14th Annual General Meeting of EuroPris

01/10/2025

On 23 September 2025, in Krakow, Poland, Jana Spero Kamenjarin, CEP Secretary General, participated in the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of EuroPris.

Recap

CEP Board, Probation in Europe

30th Council of Europe CDPPS Conference: Can we move away from the overuse of penal sanctions?

01/10/2025

On 24–25 September 2025, Kraków, Poland, hosted the 30th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (CDPPS) under the theme “Can we move away from the overuse of penal sanctions?”. The event gathered high-level participants — Directors General from member and observer states and representatives of the supporting organisations.

Subscribe to our bi-monthly email newsletter!