On 29 October 2020, the Council of Europe (CoE) held a training session on the application of the CMS Manual for violent and extremist prisoners (VEPs). Prison practitioners from Zenica and Doboj prisons, as well as representatives of law-enforcement agencies and social work centres coming from these two regions, were familiarised with the content of the CMS Manual and increased their understanding on VEPs case management methods.

The CMS Manual establishes a structured multidisciplinary approach and further enhances prison staff skills and abilities in managing VEPs. The newly introduced individualised case management approach, based on the CMS protocols, will allow staff to monitor prisoners’ progress and assess the degree of their rehabilitation and reintegration prospectus. The CMS also promotes multi-agency cooperation between prison services and external institutions involved in the process.

Following the health and safety recommendations of the CoE and the local authorities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online. The training was delivered by certified trainers coming from the Ministries of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska and Federation BiH.

The activity was organised under the project ''Structured Sentence Management For Violent And Extremist Prisoners" funded by the voluntary contribution of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom and the United States Agency for International Development Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and implemented by the Council of Europe.