CJPE Events

Over the last years the CJPE has organised many events. On this page you can find an overview of the past events and a link to the presentations that were given during the event or other important texts and documents.

CJPE Summer School 2023

From the 4^th  until the 7^th  of July 2023, the Criminal Justice Platform Europe organised the 5^th edition of the Criminal Justice Summer Course with the Centre of Legal Studies and Specialised Training in Barcelona. This year’s theme was ‘Mental Health Issues in Criminal Justice’. 

The Summer Course consisted of a combination of plenary sessions, workshops, seminars and field visits bringing together participants with a background in prison, probation and restorative justice from various European and World Wide countries. The aim of the Summer Course is to offer a unique opportunity for criminal justice colleagues from different jurisdictions to reflect and learn new approaches on how to better work with offenders, victims and communities to prevent and reduce the impact of crime.

This year, the focus was on practice: what works – new ideas – restorative methods –trauma-informed practices – research – the mental health of staff working in critical occupations – workshops – practice visits – sharing experience. The aim was that participants bring their expertise and, through engaging with the courses, became better equipped and informed about current approaches and effective interventions.

In this course, each organisation member of CJPE addressed the topic of Mental Health Issues in Criminal Justice from a different but complementary angle:

• The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) focussed on mental health challenges in closed correctional settings and on how to create a safer environment;
• The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) explored factors that contribute to mind health, brain and nervous system, the impact of trauma, staff resilience in a critical occupation and presentation of researches in this field with a focus on probation;
• The European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) will offer a course on trauma-informed practice in criminal justice, focusing on restorative justice.

Click here for the presentations from the 5th CJPE Summer Course.

CJPE Summer School 2022

From the 4th until the 8th of July 2022 the Criminal Justice Platform Europe organised the 4th edition of the Criminal Justice Summer Course together with the Centre of Legal Studies and Specialised Training in Barcelona. The conference was attended by 32 participants from 13 countries.

The focus was upon policy and practice: what works – new ideas – restorative methods – preventing reoffending – research – workshops – practice visits – sharing experience. Participants brought their expertise and, through engaging with the courses, became better equipped and informed about current approaches and effective interventions.

Each organisation member of CJPE addressed this topic from a different but complementary angles:

The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) focussed on ethics in management and treatment of individuals sentenced for a sexual offense;
The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) explored the better understanding of sexual abuse to create effective policy and practice;
The European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) looked how to include victims and use restorative justice approaches to respond to sexual violence.

Click here for the presentations and the reports from the 4th CJPE Summer Course on Better understanding sexual abuse to create effective policy and practice.

CJPE Webinars 2022

Criminal Justice Webinar on Victim’ Rights

On Thursday 3 March 2022 the Criminal Justice Platform Europe organized a webinar on Victims´ Rights with a focus on the role of prison, probation and restorative justice.

You can find the presentations here.

CJPE Webinars 2020

Criminal Justice Webinars on Sexual Violence in 2020

Since its establishment in 2012, the Criminal Justice Platform Europe (EuroPris, CEP and EFRJ) organised thematic seminars and summer courses bringing together professionals from these different fields, i.e. probation, prison and restorative justice.

Due to  the current Covid-19 outbreak in Europe, the CJPE postponed its 4th international Criminal Justice Summer Course in Barcelona to July 2021 at the Centre for Legal Studies and Specialized Training in Barcelona. However instead of holding the Summer Course this year, the CJPE organized a series of free webinars with key-experts on these topics. 

1st Webinar: Ethics in management and treatment of individuals sentenced for a sexual offense

7 July 2020 14-15h CET; organized by Europris. To watch this webinar please click below:

Part 1 – A rehabilitative environment (Nicholas Blagden)
There is an established evidence-base of the static and dynamic risk factors of individuals with sexual convictions and the specific treatment targets offenders need to address to reduce recidivism (e.g., Mann, Hanson & Thornton, 2010; Hanson et al, 2009). However, there is much less examining the context or environment within which treatment takes place (Ware et al, 2011). Research has found that treatment for individuals with sexual convictions in prison is not effective (e.g., Schmucker & Losel, 2015), or at least contested, and it is important that we understand the environment where treatment takes place. This talk will begin with a focus on the impact of rehabilitative climate on the rehabilitation of men with sexual convictions. It will emphasize the importance of taking the environment in which treatment is done more seriously and highlighting the types of environment that are most conductive to the rehabilitation of men with sexual convictions. It will make links to the importance of promoting desistance factors in prison, such as providing opportunities to change.

Part 2 – Staff-qualifications and support (Marianne Fuglestved)
The quality of the staff is considered the most important variable for successful reintegration and rehabilitation for individuals convicted of sexual convictions (e.g., Marshall, 2005; Fernandez & Mann, 2009). Training and supporting staff is important for developing competency in the rehabilitative work but are important self-care factors as well, that influence the wellbeing of professionals – to keep staff safe, resistant and satisfied in the important work they do. A number of research studies (Paton & Violanti, 1996; Leicht, 2008) have identified that staff who work with individuals with sexual convictions are affected by their work in ways that are specific to the nature of the job; it can thus be considered a “critical occupation”. Prison management has a responsibility to address the potential for staff to be affected by the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of the individuals with whom they are engaged in motivational and treatment work.

2nd Webinar: Better understanding of sexual abuse to create effective policy and practice

8 July 2020 14-15 CET; organized by CEP. To watch this webinar please click below:

Part 1 – Understanding and defining the challenge of sexual abuse (Kieran McCartan)
The reasons why people commit sexual offences are wide and varied, which is problematic for policy and practice as it means that there is not a straightforward, simple solution. This talk will focus on research and practice into the ethology of sexual offending, the motivations, and what this means for prevention and rehabilitation.

Part 2 – Online Child Sexual Exploitation (Hannah Lena Merdian)
Significant increases in the number of arrests of individuals who engage in Child Sexual Exploitation highlighted a need to further understand this offending behaviour. I will provide an overview of the current research context and the key questions posed when working with a person who has engaged in this type of offending, especially considering current risk assessment and complex case formulation.

3rd Webinar: Restorative justice responses to sexual violence – how to enable safe and sensitive practice.

9 July 2020 14-15 CET; organized by EFRJ. To watch this webinar please click below:

Part 1 – Victim offender mediation in sexual violence, does it work? (Kristel Buntinx)
The possibility to offer restorative justice in cases of sexual violence provokes a lot of resistance. This is understandable, as we wish to protect victims, especially children, by keeping them as far away as possible from the person responsible for the harm. In this webinar, a Flemish senior mediator will share her practice experience in victim-offender mediation and sexual violence, focusing on the reasons why it is important for victims and offenders to know about the possibility of restorative justice. The Belgian law does not exclude any type of crime from victim-offender mediation: this can be offered to all types of crimes and at any time during the criminal procedure and the judicial authorities are obliged to inform parties about this service. In that way, victims and offenders of sexual violence are at least informed about this opportunity and they can choose whether or not they want to participate. In the Flemish part of Belgium, Moderator is the umbrella organisation for victim-offender mediation in serious crimes for adults, receiving structural funding by the government to work. In 2019, Moderator facilitated 128 mediations in cases of sexual violence.

Part 2 – Restorative practice issues in working with harmful sexual behaviour cases (Vincent Mercer)After many reflective years of practice in this field the question to be addressed now is not “should we as restorative workers take on harmful sexual behaviour cases?”, but rather “what do we need to do to ensure safe and sensitive restorative practice in this challenging field?” Two major factors have driven this change in emphasis: the continued failure of the conventional criminal justice system to meet the justice needs of victims who have been sexually harmed, and the potential that restorative practices offer to address the traumatic impact of sexual harm and to engage with the relational context in which this harm is placed. This webinar will move beyond the reasons justifying the use of restorative justice in sexual violence and it will mostly focus on how to deliver safe and good quality restorative practices, following the experience of the AIM Project model to use restorative practices in cases of child and adolescent harmful sexual behaviours. The presentation will highlight 8 key elements, including the case/ parties assessment, cooperation with other services, actual RJ practices in place, the importance of research in the field, and the links with trauma and therapy.

Read the speaker biographies here

CJPE Summer Course 2019

From the 2nd until the 5th of July 2019, the Criminal Justice Platform Europe organised the 2nd edition of the Criminal Justice Summer Course together with the Centre of Legal Studies and Specialised Training in Barcelona. This years theme was ‘Criminal Justice in a Polarised Society’.

CJPE Summer Course 2018

From the 3rd until the 6th of July 2018 the Criminal Justice Platform Europe organised the 2nd edition of the Criminal Justice Summer Course together with the Centre of Legal Studies and Specialised Training in Barcelona. The conference was attended by 56 participants from seventeen countries.

The aim of the Summer Course is to examine key practice issues, inspire new thinking, promote cross-fertilisation and build new networks to improve services and practice in prison, probation and restorative justice. This years theme was radicalisation and violent extremism.

Click on the link to find the presentations and the reports from the 2nd CJPE Summer Course on radicalisation.

CJPE Summer Course 2017

From the 4th until the 7th of July 2017 The Criminal Justice Platform Europe (CJPE) organised a new event, the Summer Courses, in Barcelona. Expert practitioners ran courses for colleagues from across Europe. The aim was to ‘examine key practice issues, inspire new thinking, promote cross-fertilization and build new networks to improve services and practice in prisons, probation and restorative justice’.

You can find the presentations and reports on the Summer Courses here.

Expert Seminar 2017

CJPE organised an expert seminar on the implementation of the Victims’ Directive on the 23rd of February 2017 in Brussels. The focus will be on Art. 25 and 26, respectively on training of professionals and lay people and cooperation between services in order to provide better support and protection to victims of crime across Europe.

For the presentations that were given during this expert seminar click here.

Expert Workshop 2016

CJPE Europe organised an one day workshop which enabled experts in the field of criminal justice to consider:

1. Future directions of alternatives to detention – community sentences, restorative justice, before and after the gate prison options;
2. The content and implications of the draft proposals for new European Rules on Community Sanctions and Measures, recently published by the Council for Europe and to be approved in 2017 and;
3. The latest practice developments in alternatives to detention across Europe’s prison and probation systems.

You can find the presentations that were given during this workshop here.

Radicalisation Conference 2016

On the 26th of April 2016 the partners of the Criminal Justice Platform, organised a conference on Radicalisation and Violent Extremism. Radicalisation and the dangers caused by violent extremists to European countries are a paramount concern of the criminal justice system. This international workshop for experts in the field offered an opportunity to review the latest developments in thinking and interventions and set the agenda for future collaborative work.

Expert Workshop 2015

Radicalisation Conference 2015

The CJPE organised this event on radicalisation and extremist violence because the issue was becoming an urgent priority for its members and to provide an opportunity to review progress using expert perspectives.

Click here for more information on the conference.

Expert Workshop 2015

The expert workshop took place at the premises of the Representation of the Government of Catalonia to the EU. Key questions that were answered during the workshop were:

·         What are the relevant issues for the different sectors?

·         What is happening around Europe in the final phase of implementation?

·         What recommendations can we make to improve the impact of the Directive?

Click here for more information on the conference.

International Seminar 2014

The seminar, that took place at the premises of the Representation of the Government of Catalonia to the EU, brought experts and policy makers together to consider the implications of cutting edge work on desistance and the impact of imprisonment. This important seminar was a timely opportunity to create a shared vision for the Criminal Justice system to work better for European citizens.

International Seminar 2014

In May 2014 the Centre for Legal Studies in Barcelona hosted the second presentation of the CJPE. During the seminar was explained what the Directive indicates in relation to victims and what requires us to do. Through the seminar the experiences of victims’ developments from different European countries was examined. The seminar also gave the opportunity to consider the implications for different criminal justice agencies.

International Seminar 2013

In June 2013, the Centre for Legal Studies in Barcelona (Spain) hosted the first pubic presentation of the CJPE. The seminar existed of two parts: ‘What’s happening in Europe in relation to victims and offenders?’ and ‘Improving the application of the European directive on victims’.

First CJPE Meeting

Late October 2011, a historical event took place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Four European organisations from the criminal justice field met for the first time to establish an alliance between four organisations in the field of prison, probation, victim support and restorative justice.