News

The final conference of the JCN project was held in the Yachting & Spar Resort Hohe Düne in Rostock-Warnemünde from 3 to 5 September 2014. The Conference featured presentations on the findings from the JCN project, contributions from experts and workshop discussions. More than 400 experts, coming from 34 different countries, attended the Conference, which represented a valuable opportunity for networking, exchanging knowledge and developing partnerships. More information is available at the following link

The sixth project partners meeting was held in Rostock-Warnemünde (Germany) on 2 September 2014. During the meeting, the project partners discussed the main conclusions related to the activities carried out in the framework of the JCN project. The objectives of the project have been successfully reached and are all available on the JCN project website. The main results of the JCN project were also organized to be presented during the JCN project Final Conference LINK. The project partners also made plans for the creation of the final reports to be submitted to the European Commission.

The finalized version of the paper entitled “Development of minimum standards and best practice model” is available on the JCN website, under the Findings Section. The Paper was produced in the framework of the fourth JCN project workshop held in Schwerin, Germany, on 2 to 5 April 2014. The paper aims to develop a model and standards for handling high risk offenders and it is the result of the cooperative transnational work of the JCN project partners.

The final conference of the European treatment and transition management of high risk offenders project will be held in the Yachting & Spar Resort Hohe Düne in Rostock-Warnemünde from 3rd to 5th September 2014. The Conference will feature presentations on the findings from the JCN project, contributions from experts and workshop discussions. It will be a valuable opportunity for networking, to meet with experienced colleagues and experts in transition management, to exchange knowledge and develop partnerships. Travel, accommodation and attendance costs for registered delegates from member states of the European Union and acknowledged candidate states will be funded through the project budget. Early registration is important as places will be limited. For further information please contact: [email protected]. Please also check this link.

The 19th Council of Europe’s Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (CDAP) was held on the 17th and 18th June 2014 in Helsinki, Finland. Throughout both days of the conference the JCN project on European treatment and transition management of high risk offenders was presented at the information stand. The Conference was attended by more than 100 participants from about 30 countries. The information stand had a roll-up poster in background and a promotion material containing information in relation to the Final Conference of JCN project. The JCN project was also presented in the keynote speech of Dr. Axel Boetticher from Germany. More information in the Events section.

The Paper entitled “Common Understanding of Terms and Definitions on the topic of high risk offenders and transition management” is now available on the JCN website, under the Findings’ section. The Paper is one of the deliverables of the first JCN workshop held in Tallin, Estonia, on 13 – 16 March 2013. The paper aims assess the state of the art on the existing national services in the field of high risk offenders and transition management in the JCN partner countries. The paper is the result of the cooperative transnational work of the JCN project partners. The paper is available in four different language versions: English, German, Finnish and Estonian.

The fifth project partners meeting and the fourth JCN workshop were held in Schwerin, Germany on 2 – 5 April 2014. The meeting and workshop were organized by the Ministry of Justice Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the JCN project promoter and coordinator. During the project partner meeting, the JCN partnership discussed and assessed the results achieved so far, plans were also made for the carrying out of future activities with a focus on the organization of the final conference to be held in September 2014 in Germany. Information on the fourth project partners meeting is available at the related link. During the days following the project partners’ meeting, the JCN project workshop was organized. The aim of the fourth JCN project workshop was to to develop a model and standards for handling high risk offenders. Information on the workshop results is available at the related link.

The Paper entitled “Common Understanding of Terms and Definitions on the topic of high risk offenders and transition management” is available on the JCN website, under the Findings Section. The Paper was produced in the framework of the first workshop held in Tallin, Estonia, on 13 – 16 March 2013. The paper aims finding a common definition of a high risk offender , who has been identified as someone who presents a high probability to commit crimes which may cause very serious personal, physical or psychological harm.

The fourth transnational workshop of the JCN project will be held in Schwerin, Germany, on 2 – 5 April 2014. The workshop will be organized by the Ministry of Justice Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The aim of the fourth JCN workshop is to identify standards and best practice model for the management of high risk offenders. More information about the workshop is available in the Workshop section of the JCN project portal.

The JCN project was presented at steering group meeting in Tampere, Finland on 17 February 2014. Partners of steering group were Prison of Kylmäkoski and Vilppula, Criminal Sanctions Region of Western, City of Tampere Social work and Silta-Valmennusyhdistys ry. At the same time, the participants of the steering group were informed of the projects final conference in September in Germany. More information is available at the following link

The information about the JCN Final Conference as well as the invitation is available in the Final Conference section of the web site. The conference will be held held in Rostock-Warnemünde from 3rd to 5th September 2014 to feature presentations on the findings from the JCN project, contributions from experts and workshop discussions. More information at the following link

The finalized version of the Paper entitled “Best Practice Strategies and Programmes for dealing with high risk offenders and for the desired continuity of treatment as well as for transition management” has been made available on the JCN website, under the Findings’ section. The Paper is the main deliverable of the third workshop held in Helsinki on 30 October to 2 November 2013. The paper aims identify best practice strategies and programmes for dealing with high risk offenders and for the desired continuity of treatment as well as for transition management. The paper is available in four different language versions: English, German, Finnish and Estonian.

The JCN Project was presented at the National Offender Assessment Conference held in Helsinki, Finland on 21 November 2013. The event was organized by the Criminal Sanctions Agency. The conference was addressed to the staff of the Assessment centers and to experts in prisons and probation offices who are involved in assessment of offenders. There were about 60 participants. The JCN project was presented in the opening talk by Kirsti Kuivajärvi.

The fourth project partners meeting and third workshop Helsinki, Finland, on 30 Oct - 2 Nov 2013. The meeting and workshop were organized by the Ministry of Justice of Finland and the Criminal Sanctions Agency. During the project partner meeting, the JCN partnership discussed and assessed the results achieved so far. The draft of the Progress Report to be submitted to the European Commission was jointly analyzed, revised and approved. Specific one to one meetings were organized with each project partners to check the consistency and eligibility of the financial reports prepared. Plans for the activities to be carried out in the next months were made. Information on the fourth project partners meeting is available at the related link. The aim of the third JCN project workshop was to carry out a transnational comparative analysis on best practice available in transition management in the JCN partner countries. Information on the workshop results is available at the related link.

CEP, the European Organization for Probation has published an article presenting the JCN project’s objectives and activities in progress. The article is available at: http://www.cep-probation.org/news/254/1066/justice-cooperation-network. CEP have also created on their web site a direct link to the JCN project brochure in its English, German and Finnish versions. The CEP web site is also linked to the JCN project newsletter. These links are available at: http://www.cep-probation.org/default.asp?page_id=157&map_id=154

The third transnational workshop of the JCN project will be held in Helsinki, Finland, on 30 Oct - 2 Nov 2013. The workshop will be organized by the two Finnish project partners, the Ministry of Justice of Finland and the Criminal Sanctions Agency. The aim of the third JCN workshop is to carry out a transnational comparative analysis on best practice available in transition management in the JCN partner countries. More information about the workshop is available in the Workshop section of the JCN project portal.

The Paper entitled “Comparative Analysis of Transition Management Strategies” has been made available on the JCN website, under the Findings section. The Paper is one of the deliverables of the second workshop held in Dublin on 12-15 June 2013. The paper aims at comparing existing systems of transition management through the identification of national programmes and elements of transition management systems ‎which are common among partners. The Paper entitled “Comparative Analysis of Transition Management Strategies” has been made available on the JCN website, under the Findings section. The Paper is one of the deliverables of the second workshop held in Dublin on 12-15 June 2013. The paper aims at comparing existing systems of transition management through the identification of national programmes and elements of transition management systems ‎which are common among partners. The paper is available in four different language versions: English, German, Finnish and Estonian.

From 23.09.2013 to 25.09.2013 six probation officers from the Czech Republic visited their colleagues in Rostock. Main issue of the three days visit in Rostock was the professional exchange between the guests and the Rostock probation officers. The colleagues from the Czech Republic gained an insight into work and already achieved results of the European Project Justice Cooperation Network (JCN). Also, the guests experienced the practical work of their German colleagues and visited Waldeck Prison and the Forensic Clinic of the University Rostock. Lively discussions established a good basis for further professional exchanges and the cooperation between Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Czech Republic. For further information about this event, please contact the German JCN team member Mrs. Grit-Christin Ladwig (Probation officer within LaStar): [email protected].

On 16 and 17 September the final conference of the EU project SPORE took place in Riga, Latvia. 80 delegates from the EU countries Lithuania, Latvia, Great Britain, Estonia, Germany, Bulgaria and the Netherlands discussed in groups the conference topic „Shaping the future for resilient probation workers“. Mrs. Grit-Christin Ladwig attended the conference as a member of the JCN project team and informed the delegates about the ongoing activities of the EU project JCN.

The JCN project brochure has been made available in the section Human Rights and Rule of Law – Prisons and Community Sanctions and Measures of the web site of the Council of Europe at: http://www.coe.int/t/DGHL/STANDARDSETTING/PRISONS/default_en.asp
The JCN project brochure is available in 4 different languages, i.e. English, German, Finnish and Estonian, on the JCN partners’ languages on the JCN project web site at the Information.

The JCN Project was presented at the SOMEC Launch Event 27th June 2013 in London, United Kingdom at the Church House Conference Venue. SOMEC -Serious Offending by Mobile European Criminals – is a project funded by the Criminal Justice Programme of the European Commission. The SOMEC project began in January 2013 with the aim of developing the effective transfer of offender information between EU states to meet the developing problem of mobile serious, violent and sexual offenders. More information is available at: http://www.europris.org/somec-launch-event-27th-june-2013/

Mr Jörg Jesse, head of department at the Ministry of Justice Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the JCN project coordinator, on 19-21 June, in Strasbourg, attended the third Meeting of the Council for Penological Co-operation (PC-CP) Working Group. During the meeting the Draft of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Dangerous Offenders was presented. The report of the meeting is available at the following link. Also, information about the meetings of PC-CP is available at the following link

The third project partners meeting and second workshop were held in Dublin, on 12-15 June 2013 at the Probation Service Department. During the project partner meeting the results achieved so far were discussed and assessed. Plans for the activities to be carried out in the months were made. Administrative and contractual issues were also revised. Information on the third project partners meeting is available at the related link. The aim of the second JCN project workshop was to carry out a comparative transnational analysis of existing systems of transition management practice in the JCN partner countries. Information on the workshop results is available at the related link

The JCN project is being presented in the framework of national and international events in the field of justice. Information on all events is available at the Events section. In this section of the project web site, it is also possible to look at documents related to each of these events (pictures, videos, reports, etc.).

Several articles providing information about the JCN project are being published on specialized national and international journals, bulletins, newsletters and web sites. The press release section is available on the JCN project web site.

The second transnational workshop of the JCN project will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on 12-15 June 2013. The workshop will be organized by the Irish project partner, the Department of Justice and Equality and will be held at the Probation Service. The aim of the second JCN project workshop is to carry out a transnational comparative analysis of transition management strategies in the JCN partner countries. More information about the workshop is available in the Workshop section of the JCN project portal

During the meeting of the German Penal Committee, held on 15 and 16 May in Wiesbaden (Germany), Mr. Jörg Jesse, Head of Department and Probation Administration and Petition of Clemency, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, introduced the participants to the Justice Cooperation Network (JCN) Project. Delegates from all German state Ministries of Justice showed interest in the project activities and discussed the issue transition management in the course of the meeting. The German Penal Committee Meeting annually takes place in a different German state. This year it took place in Wiesbaden. Host of the Penal Community Meeting was the Ministry of Justice Hessen.

The report of the first workshop held in Tallin, Estonia, on 13 – 16 March 2013, is now available online on the JCN project web site. The preparatory work for the workshop consisted in the production of an Evaluation Questionnaire and in the organization of national meetings. The Programme of the first workshop has been prepared by Tallin Prison and approved by the project partnership. The Report on the first workshop is now also available. The Report is organized with an introduction providing information on the preparatory work, a presentation of the experts involved, the list of participants in the workshop also including the collection of signatures of participants. Also, the responses to the evaluation questionnaire are provided as well as the national case studies and presentations on the national situations. The final conclusions reached at the end of the workshop are also presented as well as an evaluation of the event. Pictures taken during the workshop are also available. All the material is available in the Report on the first workshop.

As a parallel activity of the JCN project, a group of Estonian probation officers visited the Regional Office for Probation and Supervision (LaStar) and the Waldeck prison in Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) in March 2013. During the 3-days working visit, the guests were informed by their German colleagues about the casework with high-risk offenders. The German JCN-team members Grit Ladwig (probation officer, LaStar) and Julia Müller (psychologist, Waldeck prison) presented the guests some casework at their workplace.

The second project meeting and first workshop were held in Tallin, at the city prison site, on 13 – 16 March 2013. During the steering committee meeting the project partners discussed, checked and assessed the results achieved in the first 5 months of the project lifecycle. Plans for the activities to be carried out in the next three months of the project were made. The templates to be used in order to carry out the planned activities in a consistent way were presented, discussed and approved. Administrative and contractual issues were also revised. The aim of the first ICN project workshop was to assess the state of the art on the existing national services in the field of high risk offenders and transition management in the JCN partner countries. Thirty-nine participants were actively involved In the first workshop.

Rait Kuuse, Head of Department at Tallin Prison, one of the JCN project partners was interviewed At radio Kuku (Estonian local radio station) on 14th on March. The JCN project objectives, activities and results were presented and a number of issues related to the project’s contents were discussed. The interview is available in MP3 format.

34 Delegates form the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Colorado (United States of America) visited the Ministry of Justice Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from 17 to 20 February 2013 in the framework of the European-American Prison Project. The goal of the European-American Prison Project is to stimulate reform efforts in the U.S. by exposing American policymakers to prison models and policies used in selected European countries. The American delegates of the European-American Prison Project project were informed by the director general Mr. Jörg Jesse and his staff about the aims, activities and expected results of the JCN project. The delegation members showed great interest in the JCN project and the ongoing project activities.

National meetings are organized in the JCN participating countries in preparation of the first transnational workshop that will be held in Tallin, Estonia on 13 – 16 March 2013. In the framework of national meetings the experts involved discuss of issues that will be further analyzed in the framework of the transnational workshop. The focus is on the assessment of the state of the art on the existing national services in the field of high risk offenders and transition management in the JCN partner countries. Minutes of the national meetings are available on the JCN portal.

The first Internal Newsletters about the JCN project are currently being published on the web sites of the project transnational partners. The Newsletter are also available on the JCN web portal at the link: Newsletters. The first newsletters published presents the JCN project, with a description of its objectives and activities. Most of the newsletter also informs about the project kick off meeting that was held in Florence in December 21012. The Newsletters are often available also in the national languages so as to facilitate its dissemination at national level.

On 29 January, in Brussels, the representatives of the Ministry Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the JCN project coordinator, attended the meeting organized by the European Commission for both the Justice and the Daphne Programmes. The meeting had the aim to provide the project coordinators with information on administrative aspects of the management of their projects and to facilitate networking among participants. The representatives of the Ministry of Justice Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also had the opportunity to meet the project officer in charge of the JCN project at the Commission. The documents that were presented at the meeting are now available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/grants/call_for_proposals_criminal_justice_action_grants_en.htm

The first workshop of the JCN project will be held in Tallin, Estonia on 13 – 16 March 2013. The workshop will be organized by the Estonian project partner the Prison of Tallinn. The aim of the first JCN project workshop is to assess the state of the art on the existing national services in the field of high risk offenders and transition management in the JCN partner countries. More information about the workshop is available in the Workshop section of the JCN project portal

On 10, 11, 12 December the first project meeting took place in Florence (Italy) . The meeting was organized by the Italian partner Pixel. The aim of the first meeting was to share with the project partners the information about the project objectives, activities to be carried out and expected results. The templates and guidelines proposed to carry out each of the project's activities were presented and discussed with all partners to be revised and adopted. The meeting was also an opportunity for the partners to get to know each other and get all information about each other's expertise and experience.

During a conference in the field of Justice that took place in Germany on 6 November 2012, the JCN, Justice Cooperation Network, project was presented by the Ministry of Justice Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The local TV station Schwerin made a specific television production showing the Minister of Justice Ms Uta-Maria Kuder and Mr. Jörg Jesse during the JCN TV conference in Schwerin Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The video of the TV production is available at the link: http://www.tv-schwerin.de/de/webtv/sendung-vom-06-11-2012/. To access the video the users will have to scroll the videos available until they find the one entitled Justice Cooperation Network.

The project JCN Justice Cooperation Network, European treatment and Transition Management of High Risk Offenders officially starts today. The JCN project is funded by the European Commission in the framework of the Criminal Justice Support Programme. The project objective is to develop a European network and database for best practice ‎of ‎‎transition management of prisoners leaving custody with a focus on high risk ‎offenders.