Probation measures and alternative sanctions in the EU

The free movement of citizens within the European Union has been increasingly simplified, which means that nowadays more and more sentences are imposed to non-residents and, as a consequence, have to be executed on the territory of other Member States. An effective application of the Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 that allows the recognition and monitoring of probation measures in a Member State other than the one that pronounced the sentence is therefore essential in order to ensure an adequate enforcement of such sentences in the European Union.

However, given the disparities between probation measures existing at national level and the lack of harmonisation, the success and effectiveness of this legal instrument will highly depend on a clear understanding of those discrepancies and a profound knowledge of Member States national probation system.

This website is therefore dedicated to an EU co-funded project which was focused on the implementation of the 2008/947/JHA Council Framework Decision 27 October 2008 regarding the recognition and supervision of suspended sentences, alternative sanctions, and conditional sentences (hereinafter the Probation Framework Decision). It explains the main steps and objectives underpinning this EU co-funded project and offers an overview of the current legal systems with regard to probation measures and alternative sanctions existing in each EU Member State.