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Projects

CoPPer Project

The Cooperation to Promote a European Volunteering Programme in Probation Services (CoPPer) project aims to create and improve social models that support the values of European unity and solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. It responds to the EU Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 by promoting the active engagement of citizens and civil society as supporters in the social inclusion of offenders and ensuring that we all play our role as key guarantors of a common European culture of the rule of law and democracy.

CoPPer’s main idea is to increase community participation as a vital element that can enhance the work of probation staff in supporting these often low-qualified adults to pursue education, training and employment opportunities once outside prison or while serving community sanctions. The project proposes to train volunteers in the community to provide informal support, advice and guidance to probationers. They can act as a stepping stone for the probationers’ social reintegration by motivating them for behaviour change, helping them enhance their competencies, access to adult education opportunities, look for a job, or just represent a pro-social model.

Criminal justice systems (CJS) have a complex mission: rehabilitation and resettlement of offenders. In the pursuit of their mission, the CJS should be knowledgeable and open to the importance of partnerships and inter-agency cooperation with community-based organisations (UNODC, 2012). This priority responds to the CoE’s Guidelines (2019) on recruitment, selection, education, training and professional development of prison and probation staff, to the CoE’ Probation Rules (2010), and the Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)3 on the European Rules on community sanctions & measures.

The Tokyo Rules encourage public participation in community-based interventions, stressing the importance of the role of volunteers in boosting “offenders and their families to develop meaningful ties with the community and a broader sphere of contact by providing counseling and other appropriate forms of assistance according to their capacity and the offenders’ needs” (rule 19.2). Also it responds to the 2021-2024 European judicial training strategy, promoting cross-border network, participation in training and upscaling the digitalisation of justice (through blended-learning training).

website: www.copper-initiative.com

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Agreement Number: 2022-1-NL01-KA220-ADU-000089938

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of ​the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.​ 

Partner organisations

Our knowledge of Community Sanctions and Measures

Community sanctions and measures have a long history in Europe, spanning over a century. Community sanctions and measures are sanctions and measures which maintain suspects or offenders in the community and involve some restrictions on their liberty through the imposition of conditions and/ or obligations.

Related News

Check out the latest news and updates on this project’s focus area.

New

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!

New

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.

Go to the Board members page to learn more about the board.

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.

New

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.

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