The Joint Programme of the European Union and Council of Europe ‘’Harmonisation of BiH sanctions policies and practices with European standards’’ organised the first public debate on the introduction of probation in BiH which was held in Mostar on 16 October 2015.

The aim of probation, conditioned and supervised liberty of the offender, is to protect society from the offender and to reduce the risk of recidivism through his/her re-socialisation and reintegration in the community.

The debate was attended by the key stakeholders tasked with imposing probation orders and supervision of their implementation in practice.

The Working Groups comprising local policy-makers and prison experts, which have been established under the above-mentioned joint EU/CoE Programme, drafted amendments to the criminal legislation fostering implementation of community sanctions and introduction of probation. In addition, the Working Groups developed an Options assessment paper on the introduction of probation service(s) in BiH, offering different modalities and structures for future probation service(s). The final activity in preparation of the drafting sessions for the probation legislation, was a pilot project on probation tasks in prisons which confirmed that the existing prison practices preparing prisoners for release are a good foundation for the introduction of probation in BiH. Members of the Working Group and representatives of the prison/probation teams presented at the debate the results of the joint programme achieved to date.

The judicial authorities who participated in the debate were of the opinion that the professional community must be better informed in order to be able to accurately assess the offender prior to ordering probation measures.

The representatives of the cantonal ministries of justice, responsible for the implementation of community service, reported at the debate that in some cases judges are reluctant to order probation measures and in practice, there is a lack of employers who would be willing to employ persons under probation. It was concluded that the adoption of a sound and relevant legislative framework would improve this situation.

The debate closed with the international consultant’s presentation on the current draft probation legislation structure and agreement on the next steps before the next debate scheduled at the beginning of 2016. Participants also agreed that further awareness-raising among key stakeholders (judges, law enforcement agencies, social welfare centres, etc.) would be crucial for promotion of the concept of probation.

The Programme ‘’Harmonisation of BiH sanctions policies and practices with European standards’’ is financed by the European Union in the amount of 1 200 000 EUR, and is implemented and co-financed by the Council of Europe in the amount of 120 000 EUR.