Previous Article
News
Working in the empty headquarters of the Probation and Mediation Service
An article written by Miroslava Jakesova, international and communications officer at the Czech Probation and Mediation Service.
First Time for Everything
Each year is connected to some memories that shape the way you recall that year, and what brought me to this stage as working in the probation and mediation field. If you make a list, it would look like this:
1994 – first year of school
2007 – first year of university studies
2010 – first year of working full time
2018 – first year in the Probation and Mediation Service
2020 – first experience in living during a state of emergency
My work in 2020
Jumping into 2020 felt quite different this year. Besides the fact that 2020 launched a new decade, other changes and novelties lied ahead of me – a new senior colleague, reorganisation of our tasks, a few important milestones ahead of us – 20th anniversary of the Service, international conference in Prague, 5th Yellow Ribbon Run – all of them postponed until later, until the autumn or even spring 2021.
Who am I? My name is Miroslava and I have been working with the Probation and Mediation Service as an international relations and communication officer. I am responsible for coordinating all international matters regarding memberships, international visits, business trips, translations, communication with partners and colleagues, handling all international administration etc. The rest of my daily agenda is connected to the press department: co-organizing and coordinating various events for press and the public, editing and writing texts, updating website and social sites and many others.
Life slowed down in March
In February we managed to organise a successful press conference and public meeting. At the beginning of March, we joined the Law Night and if everything had gone as usual I would then focus on coordinating the international conference held in Prague scheduled for autumn 2020, our attendance on Yellow Ribbon Run 5th edition and all international matters. This spring we planned to attend a conference and general project assembly meeting, host some specialists from abroad, provide training to criminology students and give some presentations to foreign specialists visiting the Czech Republic. However at the end of February, it started to become clear that it would not be possible to travel abroad in the near future. The first three cases of the COVID-19 infection were confirmed on 1.3.2020 and after that a state of emergency was declared. Borders closed and we knew that not only would we go nowhere, but also no one would be able to arrive in the Czech Republic. So the first weeks of the emergency state for me were a new era of postponement and reorganisation of tasks and calendar. Every meeting and event needed to be rescheduled for a later date, everything planned as a face-to-face meeting needed to be redesigned. On a positive note, along with my daily tasks working from home I found time to complete all the paperwork, finish some translations which I originally planned to do in the summer and most importantly refresh my written English because we were asked to share measures that the Service adopted with our international partners.
Facemasks all around us and an empty office
Our Service Centres were not closed but the face-to-face meetings as well as the number of people in the office were reduced and the same was applied at the headquarters in Prague. Fortunately, we have been living in a technological era and therefore we were able to replace face-to-face meetings with the virtual ones like everyone else did. We partly worked from home and partly from the office. Travelling to work was not a problem because metro, buses and trams were almost empty and blue parking zones allowing only residents to park their cars at the city centres were temporarily cancelled. The office was empty as well. Now that we are back in here I realize how strange it felt going through deserted floors or having a Skype meeting with facemasks on. Another thing that always crosses my mind when thinking of the emergency state is the ubiquitous smell of disinfectant. We are obliged to use it up till now when entering the building or different floors but I have already got used to it.
Furthermore, it was mandatory to wear facemasks both outdoors and inside public buildings. As in the first couple of weeks it was impossible to buy single-use facemasks :the largest production of fabric facemasks hit our country and our probation officers were not behind. Looking back on that time, I keep being amazed when recalling all beautiful and original creations produced by my colleagues. We asked them to send us photos of their facemasks and published it successfully on our Facebook page. As the face-to-face meetings with clients were limited, my colleagues communicated with them by phone, email or Skype. We wanted to support the clients amongst whom there were both offenders and victims, and therefore we started publishing messages in order to support the offender´s efforts to live the life in accordance with the law and rules, and remind the victims of the fact that the Service kept providing counselling services.
Back to normality
Recently, our lives have been going back to „normality“. The Service Centres reopened, most people returned back to their offices, even though we keep wearing facemasks in the office and try to be cautious. My only hope now is that we will manage to launch the first celebrations connected to our 20th anniversary this autumn, as well as to organise the conference next spring.

Related News
Keep up to date with the latest developments, stories, and updates on probation from across Europe and beyond. Find relevant news and insights shaping the field today.
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.
Recap

Partners
CEP participated at the 14th Annual General Meeting of EuroPris
01/10/2025
On 23 September 2025, in Krakow, Poland, Jana Spero Kamenjarin, CEP Secretary General, participated in the 14th AGM of EuroPris.
Program of AGM constituted of Annual and Financial report for 2024; Planning 2025/2026; report from the Staff Exchange Programme, Future Expert group topics and Measures to prevent and reduce Prison Overcrowding. Also, there were parallel workshops on the topics of Staff Wellbeing, Future of Prisons and Prison Security.
Board elections also took place. CEP would like to thank Caron MaCaffrey, departing president, for excellent cooperation in the previous period, and CEP congratulates Mr Jan-Erik Sandlie (Norway), elected President and Ms Ioana Morar (Romania), elected Vice-President.
At the end of the program, a ceremony for the Prison Achievement Award took place, and CEP took this opportunity to congratulate Türkiye on receiving this important award.
Recap

CEP Board, Probation in Europe
30th Council of Europe CDPPS Conference: Can we move away from the overuse of penal sanctions?
01/10/2025
On 24–25 September 2025, Kraków, Poland, hosted the 30th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (CDPPS) under the theme “Can we move away from the overuse of penal sanctions?”. The event gathered high-level participants — Directors General from member and observer states and representatives of the supporting organisations.
Recap

Probation outside Europe
Governance Oversight and Accountability Mechanisms in Probation and Parole: Compare and Contrast Europe and USA
19/09/2025
Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) organized an insightful webinar that introduced the theme “Governance oversight and accountability mechanisms in Probation and Parole. Compare and contrast Europe and USA”. This event took place on Thursday, 18 September 2025.
Recap

CEP Events, Framework Decisions
Recap: Expert Workshop on Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA
16/09/2025
The Expert Workshop held on September 10–11, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium, brought together senior managers, probation practitioners, criminal justice professionals such as lawyers and prosecutors from across Europe as well as representatives of the European Commission, Academy of European Law and European Judicial Network to discuss the advancements in the implementation of Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA. Hosted at the Houses of Justice, the CEP Expert Workshop served as a dynamic platform for mutual learning, collaboration, and strategic planning.
Subscribe to our bi-monthly email newsletter!
"*" indicates required fields
- Keep up to date with important probation developments and insights.