Eric Bezem is Director-General for Sanctions and Protection at the Ministry of Justice and Security in The Netherlands. His directorate is responsible for probation, prison and child protection policy. Among the organizations that he is responsible for are the Dutch probation organizations.
From an early age Eric was fascinated by the probation service, his father worked as a psychiatrist for the probation service. The key message that he learned: rehabilitation of offenders is a key value for a society. At the beginning of this century, Eric was involved in the reorganization and development of the probation organizations in The Netherlands. Before that, he had built a new directorate concerning probation policy, which he led for three years. At that time, he was also in charge of a program designed to reduce recidivism. This program was built upon the Canadian evidence based approach. The probation organizations played a major role in this program. Eric holds a great value to facts, research and knowledge. He is an untiring advocate for evidence-based policy concerning probation.
Eric hopes to share his extensive experience and knowledge with the Dutch probation and prison facilities to all the CEP members, besides his work to reduce recidivism and the prevention of crime and victims.
He has a master degree in business economics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and a post-master controlling degree from the Nyenrode University.
Eric became a member of the CEP Board in October 2022. In November 2023 he was appointed as the CEP Treasurer.