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COST Action Offender Supervision in Europe 

The work of COST Action IS1106 on Offender Supervision in Europe began on 27th March 2012 at a ‘kick-off’ meeting in Brussels and it concludes with the final conference, back in Brussels, on the 11-12th March 2016. This report reflects on the achievements over the course of four years of complex, challenging, creative and highly constructive research collaboration.

 

The main objective of the Action is to exchange, increase and deepen knowledge about offender supervision in Europe, in order to understand its development in social context, how it is constructed and experienced by those involved and its impacts and consequences.

The central rationale for the work was that offender supervision in Europe has developed rapidly in scale, distribution and intensity in recent years but that the emergence of what we termed ‘mass supervision’ (i.e. in the community) had largely escaped the attention of legal scholars and social scientists more concerned with the ‘mass incarceration’ reflected in prison growth. Argument was that this represented an important analytical lacuna for law and social science. Moreover, the neglect of supervision meant that research had not delivered the knowledge urgently required to engage with political, policy and practice communities grappling with delivering justice efficiently and effectively in fiscally straitened times, and with the challenges of communicating the meaning, legitimacy and utility of supervision to an insecure public.

Our knowledge of Interagency Coorperation

When considering the rehabilitation of persons who have committed a crime resulting in imprisonment, a critical stage of the process is when they are released to the community. This is an important moment of transition when the person needs support in several areas of his/her life. Research indicates that this transition management is crucial in the rehabilitation process. Interagency cooperation is necessary to make this process successful.

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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