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Enhancing outcomes for Justice-involved foreign individuals through international judicial cooperation
Since its inception in 2008, the Council of the European Union Framework Decision (FD) 947/JHA, which aims to apply the principle of mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions within the EU, has faced challenges in its implementation.
The lack of adherence has led to limited practical application, hindering the smooth transfer of non-custodial measures among Member States. However, an ambitious project is committed to streamlining the implementation of this legal instrument through informative resources and awareness-raising interventions, ultimately enhancing the rehabilitation of foreign citizens sentenced to non-custodial judicial measures
In a globalised Europe without internal borders, where individuals often reside outside their home countries, ensuring effective rehabilitation for offenders becomes a complex challenge. The ability to serve non-custodial sentences in their home communities plays a pivotal role in successful reintegration, but this is often difficult to achieve.

Despite the existence of FD 2008/947/JHA, an European legal instrument specifically designed for mutual recognition and cooperation among European Member States regarding probation measures and alternative sanctions, its full potential remains largely untapped. The instrument is significantly underused by judges and other justice professionals, partly due to a lack of familiarity with the framework's practical application.
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This knowledge gap poses a considerable obstacle to effective cross-border efforts in terms of offender rehabilitation, making it imperative to devise innovative solutions that could empower judges and justice professionals with the necessary expertise to leverage FD 2008/947/JHA to its fullest extent.

Non-custodial sentences: Overcoming Mutual Recognition Challenges in the EU

Numerous justice professionals came together at a Symposium to address the difficulties faced in implementing Framework Decision 2008/947 and to explore ways to make its application more efficient. The event contributed to raising awareness and encouraging the utilisation of this instrument, particularly in relation to foreign nationals under probation measures in Europe. 

J-CAP Project: Advancing Mutual Recognition and Rehabilitation through Enhanced Judicial Cooperation in the EU
Recognising a pressing need for widening the utilisation of this legal instrument, the EU-funded project
​J-CAP – “Judicial cooperation for the enhancement of mutual recognition regarding probation measures and alternative sanctions” – aims to tackle this challenge.

The project strives to promote rehabilitation for foreign citizens by facilitating the implementation of FD 2008/947/JHA. J-CAP seeks to address the implementation challenges and bring about lasting positive change in the European judicial landscape through fostering knowledge-sharing and close cooperation among judicial authorities and its professionals.
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J-CAP aims to achieve this goal both by developing a broad awareness-raising intervention while providing practical informative materials for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and probation professionals. 

J-CAP has developed a wealth of practical materials to assist justice professionals in implementing FD 2008/947/JHA

J-CAP has made significant strides towards its vision of fostering effective rehabilitation and mutual recognition across European borders. One of the essential resources developed is the Informative Materials document. It offers a glossary of the available probation measures and alternative sanctions for each of the countries involved in the initiative - Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania –, including comprehensive information on the national authorities responsible for incoming and outgoing requests.
 
This is followed by structured overviews of each country’s national procedures concerning the application of FD 2008/947/JHA, as both the issuing and executing State.
 
Moreover, the release of J-CAP’s Guidance Booklet on FD 2008/947/JHA has provided justice professionals with practical guidelines detailing each step for the effective use of the Framework Decision.
​This includes the processes for evaluating reintegration prospects, identifying suitable sentencing options and probation decisions, and adequately handling the transfer certificate. 

Promoting increased and consolidated awareness through impactful events

​The second line in which J-CAP has been developing its action centres on a wide-ranging awareness-raising intervention. Accordingly, the J-CAP project consortium has organised several focused discussions on the main issues impeding the effective use of the Framework Decision and how to enhance both awareness and knowledge of this mutual recognition instrument.
 
J-CAP promoted a series of Thematic Workshops between December 2022 and March 2023, in each of the partner countries. These sessions brought together more than fifty justice professionals and experts to exchange experiences and insights on this topic.
 
The participants in the Thematic Workshop identified several challenges around utilising the FD, including practitioners limited knowledge of other Member State’s legal systems and sentencing practices. This lack of understanding leads to difficulties in determining the competent authority to forward certificates, non-compliance with time limits, and even inadequate filling out or submission of incorrect documents and translations. As a consequence, this ultimately hampers communication, cooperation and trust between authorities.
 
To address this issues, practitioners participating in the workshops emphasised the importance of increased cross-border training initiatives. Furthermore, the development of practical materials tailored to the needs of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers emerged as a crucial step in bolstering their proficiency in using the instrument effectively. 

The workshops also underscored the necessity for increased awareness-raising activities which can better sediment this EU legal instrument in justice professionals’ day-to-day practice. All agreed on the need for projects such as J-CAP in this endeavour.
 
Moreover, the 1st Transnational Awareness Raising Symposium, held in Brussels, on the 13th and 14th of June 2023, marked the first of J-CAP’s international events. For two days, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and probation professionals from the countries represented in the project partnership had the opportunity to engage in lectures and debates and learn about case studies exploring non-fictional examples of challenging transfers, transnational procedural differences. and the resources that can facilitate justice professionals’ daily work.
 
This event will be followed by a second Symposium in September, 2023, and by a two-day international virtual conference, in November, 2023 open to all judicial practitioners who wish to learn more about FD 2008/947/JHA and the J-CAP project.
Registrations for this latter event are now open. 

J-CAP Project: Uniting Expertise and Institutions Across Europe to Address FD 2008/947/JHA Implementation Challenges

The J-CAP project’s multi-disciplinary partnership comprises research institutes, non-governmental organisations, SMEs and judicial training organisations. Each partner's unique characteristics and expertise harmoniously complement one another ensuring a comprehensive approach to tackle the challenges around the implementation of FD 2008/947/JHA.
 
The  project is coordinated by the IGO-IFJ - Judicial Training Institute (Belgium) and partnered by IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Portugal), Agenfor International (Italy), European Strategies Consulting (Romania), the National School for the Judiciary (France), The Netherlands Helsinki Committee (The Netherlands), and the Department of Applied Sociology of Law and Criminology at the University of Innsbruck (Austria).

Past Events:

Non-custodial sentences: Overcoming Mutual Recognition Challenges in the EU
​Numerous justice professionals came together at a Symposium to address the difficulties faced in implementing Framework Decision 2008/947 and to explore ways to make its application more efficient. The event contributed to raising awareness and encouraging the utilisation of this instrument, particularly in relation to foreign nationals under probation measures in Europe.

The J-CAP Consortium held its 3rd Transnational Project Meeting, in Brussels

Update on the PONT Project

The latest update to the PONT project focuses on the progresses achieved in the literature review, training gap analysis and the first version of the training e-manual.

Working with the Framework Decisions in the German Federal State Bremen

This year’s CEP Expert Meeting on Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA also gathered participants working for the Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice in Bremen.

Online CEP expert meeting on the Framework Decisions

CEP’s Expert Meeting on Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA met online, on Tuesday, the 22nd of September. 

CEP Online expert meeting on the EU Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA

The 2021 CEP Expert Meeting Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA discussed, among others, the importance of inter-agency cooperation in order to streamline transfer procedures. It also gathered importance insights from European Commission representatives.

Recap: Framework Decisions Workshop - 14 September 2022 - Brussels, Belgium

The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) gathered experts on the Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/829/JHA and representatives of the European Commission as well as policymakers, representatives of the EU Member States and others to discuss the state of implementation of the  Framework Decisions and how to promote their streamlined use.

Out now: European Guidebook on Mutual Recognition

The METIS project as published its European Guide on Mutual Recognition of Judgements, focusing, among others, on the implementation of Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA.  

The European Judicial Network on Detention and its Alternatives: about the Framework Decisions

The 51st Plenary of the EJN took place in November 2018 in Vienna.  The event aimed to identify practical problems and possible solutions to the less used Mutual Recognition Instruments, such as the FD 2008/976/JHA. This event hosted the EJN Contact Points from the different Member States, under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

Experts on Framework Decisions exchange knowledge in Leuven​

The annual Expert Meeting on the Framework Decisions 947 and 829 took place on the 24th of September 2019 in the Irish Institute in Leuven, Belgium. The event aimed to exchange knowledge regarding the Framework Decisions and to improve their implementation. This event hosted various professionals in this field and counted with the presentations held by Esther Montero Pérez de Tudela and Ioan Durnescu. 

Future Events:

CEP Expert Workshop on EU Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA & 2009/829/JHA​

The Confederation of European Probation (CEP) invites Experts on Framework Decisions 2008/947/JHA and 2009/289/JHA, Members of the European Commission, European policymakers, representatives of EU Member States and other interested people to debate the current state of implementation of the Framework Decisions throughout the European Union and provide recommendations on how to increase that implementation.
This project is funded by the Justice Programme. This website has been accomplished in the scope of the project “Judicial cooperation for the enhancement of mutual recognition regarding probation measures and alternative sanctions " (J-CAP), Grant Agreement no. 101046663, implemented with the financial support of the European Commission by the Justice Programme. 
​This website reflects the views only of the author, hence neither the Portuguese National Agency nor the European Commission can be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.