Developments of Probation and Mediation Service The Czech Republic

Basic information  Czech population about 10 mil  Criminal liability was set to start at 15 years of age; a juvenile is a person between 15 and 18 years of age.  Children under 15 are not criminally liable, but they may be subject to measures specified under this law (such as probation supervision)

Motto  Justice can be understood as restoration and reconciliation rather than retribution. If crime hurts, justice should repair the harm and assist recovery. Howard Zehr Howard Zehr

From the beginnings… Probation and Mediation Service of CR was established as:  organizational units of the state and accounting units  governmental body – “independent part“ of Ministry of Justice (MoJ – decisive authority in area of personal, organization, economic and financial matters) Act No. 257/2000 Coll. Probation and Mediation Act two new professionals - probation officer and assistent

Mission Statement  PM Service is endeavouring to bring about the effective and socially beneficial resolution of conflicts arising out of criminal offending.  At the same time, it is working to ensure the proper carrying-out of alternative sentences, placing an emphasis on the interests of victims, the protection of the community, and crime prevention.  The Czech Probation and Mediation Service represents a new institution in the field of criminal justice policy and arises out of collaboration between two professions: social work and the law.

Preliminary stage of criminal proceedings  V/O Mediation  Pre-sentence report  Supervision replacing Remand Custody  Advice and assistence to victims

Post-sentence stage  Pre-sentence report  Parole and probation supervision  Community work  Home detention  Prohibition of attending sports or cultural events or other kind of activities  Advice/assistence to victim  V/O Mediation

The highest level of management MoJ Council for Probation and Mediaiton Probation and Mediation Service director is appointed by MoJ

Organization structure Headquarter Prague National level of management (economic and administrative agenda, professional agenda, statistics, training, project activities, IT, interational agenda) County courts 8 Regional level of management (8 regional chiefs) Judicial districts Probation and mediation centers (officers, assistants)

Qualification and trainning Probation officers 1. shall be unimpeachable 2. have to have capacity for legal action 3. shall hold a university degree in the field of social sciences obtained by graduating from a master's degree programme 4. shall hold professional exam which the office lets him/her sit for after passing an elementary qualification training Probation assistents 1. shall be unimpeachable natural person aged over have to have a capacity to take legal action 3. have to complete a secondary school education in the field of social sciences 4. shall to pass qualification trainning

Czech model = under one roof Probation Execution of supervision Monitoring of execution of alternative sentences Assistence to the offenders and influence them Mediation out-of-court mediation with the aim of solving a conflict between the V/O activities leading to solving a conflict situation only with explicit consent from the offender and the victim.

European Probation Rules Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)1  93. … probation agencies shall assist victims in dealing with the consequences of the offence committed, taking full account of the diversity of their needs.  95. … probation agencies are in contact with victims and/or seek their views, the latter shall be clearly informed that decisions regarding the sanctioning of offenders are taken based on a number of factors and not only the harm done to a particular victim.  96. … interventions of probation agencies aimed to victims shall respect the rights and needs of victims and shall aim at increasing offenders’ awareness of the harm done to victims and their taking responsibility for such harm.

European Probation Rules Probation agencies shall work in partnership with other public or private organisations and local communities to promote the social inclusion of offenders. Co-ordinated and complementary inter-agency and inter-disciplinary work is necessary to meet the often complex needs of offenders/victims and to enhance community safety. Police, prison service Services for V/O PM Service Judge, prosecutor

Theoretical pillars of practice of PMS Theoretical pillars of practice of PMS Restorative Justice idea Inspiration of effective practice of our foreign colleagues (Canada, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Croatia) The international projects and co-operation focused on: 1. upgrading and development of effective practice (risk assesment, parole boards, programs for offenders, youth offending teams,restorative conferencing) 2. training and education proffesionals 3. helping with building new probation services in Europe (Czech experts help experts from other countries) Domestic experience and own practice