The project Implementing Probation and Alternatives to Detention in the EU project (IPAS-EU) focuses on the practical hurdles that affect the day-to-day use of Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA (‘FD’) on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judicial decisions imposing suspended sentences and alternative sanctions.
While the main focus is on Italy, France, Belgium and Spain, the project aims at improving the use of this instrument at the EU level.
This action stems from two important developments: the recent trend in various Member States towards a rise in the number of FD 2008/947/JHA procedures, and several deep reforms of domestic legislation devoted to enhancing alternatives to detention, thereby broadening the scope for using the FD.
Notwithstanding this promising context, several practical difficulties undermine the full effectiveness of this instrument. For instance, these range from the fragmentation of national legal orders concerning the criminal execution phase to the obstacles affecting the design of alternative measures in another Member State.
The state of play is still unsatisfactory and unveils the need to highlight recurring hurdles, to identify best practices and disseminate them, while also improving information sharing and training of legal practitioners.
National judicial authorities (namely, judges and prosecutors), lawyers and other justice professionals involved in the execution of probation, suspended sentences and alternatives to detention are key targets in this regard, and will be the main recipients of the project’s activities.
The Consortium is composed of 4 universities: University of Turin, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université Catholique de Lyon, Universidade da Coruña. It includes some of the most authoritative voices in EU and national criminal procedural law, as well as promising early-career and dynamic academics, in strict adherence to gender equality.
In addition to project management and coordination, the planned activities start with the analysis of the legal context in Italy, Belgium, France and Spain, with a view to the publication of four country reports and an overall analysis of the key lessons stemming from these jurisdictions.
The subsequent phase focuses on identifying and promoting best practices at the EU level, through a dedicated open access collection and an EU Handbook, designed following the footprint of the existing Commission’s Handbooks covering other complementary Framework Decisions, such as that on the European Arrest Warrant.
Based on these activities, the target groups are trained through hybrid events and a MOOC. Lastly, an articulated communication and dissemination strategy encompasses academic publications, articles addressed to a general audience, 2 communication events and various other communication and exploitation means, such as the project website and social media posts.