Council of Europe Instruments and Standards

The action will address the application of the Council of Europe instruments and standards in the field of community sanctions and measures with regards to terrorism related offenders and VEPs and other marginalised/vulnerable groups under early or conditional release. It will open discussion on the use of conditional (and early) release throughout the region, exchange of practices when it comes to regulating these sanctions and measures under legislation, including the set-up and structure of the implementing authorities/bodies empowered to decide on and with responsibility for their practical implementation. When it comes to community services offered to offenders across the region and the feedback on their impact, especially in relation to terrorism-related offences, the action will also discuss the introduction of clear, transparent and non-discriminatory policies of case-selection, adequate and sufficient resources and the (non)existence of a transparent and fair system of evaluation and filtering of individual cases, and will provide recommendations for overcoming identified systematic gaps and practical shortcomings. Another topic closely related to the above-mentioned is the issue of overcrowding in the prison systems in the Western Balkans and its potential negative impact on allocation practices concerning VEPs, marginalised prisoners and those vulnerable to radicalization

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