Strategic Targeting of Recidivism through Evaluation And Monitoring (STREAM) Rob Canton Workstream 4

Impact of European Probation Rules To ascertain if EPR have influenced policy and practice in member states To discover how EPR have been used To identify any difficulties that have hindered implementation To determine the strengths and the shortcomings of EPR in light of experiences of implementation

European Probation Rules Part I: Scope, application, definitions and basic principles Part II: Organisation and staff Part III: Accountability and relations with other agencies Parts IV - VI: Probation work (tasks and responsibilities), the processes of supervision, work with victims of crime Part VII: Complaint procedures, inspection and monitoring Part VIII: Research, evaluation, work with the media and the public Glossary Memorandum / Commentary

Impact or compliance – A Council of Europe View “I think that both the impact of the Rules is important to measure as well as the compliance with these. The impact is important as it allows us to know whether legislative or structural changes have been initiated after their adoption … and in line with their standards and whether they have been included in the training of staff. Compliance is important as it shows whether practices and mentalities change over time because of being influenced by the Rules or because society or legislation change.”

What we did – Working in partnership with Workstream 1 Doubtful about written questionnaires Identifying key person in each country Ask them about the topics of our workstreams … But also ask them to identify others who might be well-placed to speak with us Skypes Language – warm thanks to Pascal Décarpes

Interview Questions Q1 Knowledge of EPR Q2 Establish Common Standards across EU Q3 Have rules been used? Influence on law, practice, policy, training? Q4 Most influential rules Q5 Problems of implementation?

Interview Questions Q6 Policies & practice reflect values / beliefs Q7 Rule 1. Relationships & social inclusion Q8 Rule 1. Help & support Q9 Rule 37. Work with other agencies Q10 Rule 93. Work with victims

How well known are the Rules? Most individual respondents knew EPR well (which is why we spoke to them!) But said EPR are not well or widely known Known by some academics, but not so well by staff in the probation agency Known to policy makers and managers better than to practitioners Different rules are known to different people (depending on their relevance to their work) and in varying detail In some cases, EPR were said to be influential …

How are the Rules being used? (In some places, not at all), but Influencing legislation Benchmarking Informing National Standards for practice Inspection procedures A significant reference point A research topic Training Useful in support of implementing Framework Decisions

Problems of implementation Not all are relevant (e.g. victim work) “everything to do with Europe has a low profile “… is already confident that its practices are of a high standard … (even if the evidence for this is sometimes lacking)” cultural resistance to rules and practices being ‘imposed’ from outside and Ministry of Justice claims the right to make their own priorities and objectives and would not always accept arguments about following the Rules

Are the Principles of the Rules in accordance with national policies? Mostly: Yes and especially “We do this already” Many countries affirm the ideas of (notably) Rule 1 – relationship and social inclusion … But some have another conception of probation, e.g. “control and monitoring of offenders is more important than ‘welfare’ and rehabilitation” Probation has different meanings in different countries and so the thinking behind probation practice and organisation structures differ widely

Analysis Trying to find out the factors that make a difference to the way in which EPR are received Countries differ in many ways, history, culture, demography, economy, politics Probation agencies: large / small; established / newer; more / fewer resources; centralised / local; understanding of probation; staff training Most of these factors cannot be changed, but a better understanding might improve the chances of implementation

To scope the possibility of developing a 'centre of excellence' for European probation, most likely through a virtual network (interactive website), to ensure that the project is sustained and continues to develop. A European Probation Centre of Excellence

What is a Centre of Excellence? an institution or the hub of a network that claims to represent best practice in a policy, business or technological domain and aspires to offer leadership and guidance to others; this includes identification and dissemination of good practice, the commissioning and interpretation of research, development of initial and continuing education and training; explanation and promotion of the work to the public and to policy makers on behalf of the domain.

Tasks of a Centre Council of Europe CEPOther Setting Standards Supporting countries to meet standards Twinning projects Resource / advice to countries Twinning projects Encouraging research? Undertaking research COST and several others Disseminating good practice ? STARR, DOMICE, SOMEC and others Training CJSW, Twinning projects Championing probation ???