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Promoting non-discriminatory alternatives to imprisonment across Europe: A manual for criminal justice practitioners

The project is implemented by Penal Reform International (PRI) in partnership with the University of Coimbra, Portugal and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. The manual draws in particular on research conducted as part of the project in Hungary and Portugal, as well as training conferences and workshops held at the University of Coimbra in May 2022 and in Budapest in November 2022.

This manual was developed by Penal Reform International (PRI) together with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) and the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (UC) as part of project PRI Alt Eur: Promoting non-discriminatory alternatives to imprisonment across Europe, funded through the European Union’s Justice Programme. We would like to thank Rob Allen for his contribution to the project and the development of this manual.

This manual has been written to assist criminal justice practitioners involved in the delivery of non-custodial sanctions to find ways of ensuring that any community-based measures are used effectively and do not discriminate against minority or marginalised groups or those left uniquely vulnerable in the criminal justice system due to specific personal or background characteristics or circumstances. The manual draws on work undertaken in the context of the project PRI Alt Eur: Promoting non-discriminatory alternatives to imprisonment across Europe. The project (PRI Alt Eur, 101007466) is supported by the European Union’s Justice programme. Running from January 2021 to March 2023, it includes national and cross-European research and varied capacity-building activities aiming toward more pronounced, non-discriminatory use of non-custodial sanctions in the two focus countries – Hungary and Portugal – and across Europe. For more, visit the project website.

The manual should be read in conjunction with the presentations and resources produced and referenced at the training events. (All resources from the training are available online here.)

Click here to read the manual


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