30th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (CDPPS)

The 30th Council of Europe Annual Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services “Can we move away from the overuse of penal sanctions?” was held at the at AC HOTEL BY MARRIOTT, in Kraków, Poland on 24 and 25 September 2025. It was hosted and co-organised with the Polish Ministry of Justice and the Polish Penitentiary Administration.

The Conference was held in plenary sessions and in four workshops. At the plenary sessions it was discussed how to reduce imprisonment and the workload of probation services as well as the importance to address neurodiversity of a number of offenders.

The workshops dealt with the Use of data and risk assessment tools to reform penal policies; the Promotion of positive health and trauma informed care; Children with imprisoned parents and Strategic approach by prison and probation services to crisis management.

The Conference was attended by the Directors General of the Council of Europe member and observer states as well as by representatives of the European Union, the United Nations, the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris), the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) and the Confederation of European Probation (CEP). It was also attended by renowned researchers and professionals. More than 150 participants have taken part in this high-level conference.

The event was opened to invited participants only.

Documents

Family photo

Presentations

OPENING PLENARY SESSION

Chair: Col. Renata NIZIOŁEK, Director General of the Polish Prison Service

Welcome addresses:

Waldemar ŻUREK, Minister of Justice, Poland
Hugh CHETWYND, Head of Department, Deprivation of liberty, monitoring and co‑operation, DGI: Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law / Executive Secretary, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Council of Europe

Keynote speech on the Polish penitentiary system:

Maria EJCHART, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Justice, Poland

Keynote speech on the Ukrainian penitentiary system:

Liudmila SUHAK, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for European Integration

Keynote speech on net‑widening of prison and probation:

Annie DEVOS & Text (in French), Director of the Probation Service of the Federation of Wallonia‑Brussels, President of CEP, Belgium
Caron McCAFFREY, Director General of the Prison Service, President of EuroPris, Ireland

Moderators: Jana ŠPERO‑KAMENJARIN (CEP) and Gustav TALLVING (EuroPris)

Panel discussion on the keynote speech:

Iuliana CĂRBUNARU, Probation Inspector, National Probation Directorate, Ministry of Justice, Romania
Daniel DANGLADES, Prison and Probation Administration, France
Kim THORNDEN EDWARDS, Chief Probation Officer, HMPPS, United Kingdom
Dariusz PALMIRSKI, Chairman of the National Council of Probation Officers, Poland

WORKSHOPS

WORKSHOP 1: USE OF DATA AND RISK ASSESSMENT TOOLS TO REFORM PENAL POLICIES

Moderators:

Dominik LEHNER, PC-CP Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), Switzerland
Rafał NARLOCH, Deputy director, Department for the Execution of Judgements and Probation, Ministry of Justice, Poland

Panelists:

Edoardo COCCO, Graduate Assistant in Criminology, School of Criminal Sciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Robin MOORE, Dr., Research and data analysis, HM Inspectorate of Probation, United Kingdom
Sebastian LIZIŃCZYK, Dr., Expert, Ministry of Justice/Central Board of Prison Service, Poland

WORKSHOP 2: PROMOTION OF POSITIVE HEALTH AND TRAUMA INFORMED CARE

Moderators:

Paulina TALLROTH, PC-CP Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), Finland
Frédéric HANKUS, PC-CP Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), France

Panelists:

Jorge MONTEIRO, Head of Service, Directorate General of Reintegration and Prison Services, Portugal
Ronald GRAMIGNA (Presentation 1 - Presentation 2), Head of the Execution of Sentences and Measures Unit, Federal Department of Justice and Police FDJP, Federal Office of Justice FOJ, Switzerland
Philippa TOMCZAK (& Document), Professor, Prisons Health and Societies Director, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom & Róisín MULGREW, Dr. Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Director of Research, School of Law, University of Galway, Ireland

WORKSHOP 3: CHILDREN WITH IMPRISONED PARENTS

Moderators:

Carla CIAVARELLA, PC-CP Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), Italy
Danijela MRHAR PRELIĆ, PC-CP Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), Slovenia

Panelists:

Edoardo FLEISCHNER, Head of Communication and Foreign Relations, "Associazione Bambini Senza Sbarre Ets", Italy
Rodrigo J. CARCEDO GONZÁLEZ, Associate Professor, Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Salamanca, Spain
Paula AKYOL, Project Director, Children of Prisoners Europe, France

WORKSHOP 4: STRATEGIC APPROACH BY PRISON AND PROBATION SERVICES TO CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Moderators:

Maria LINDSTRÖM BERGLUND, PC-CP Vice-chair & Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), Sweden
Jorge MONTEIRO, PC-CP Working Group Member (Council for Penological Co-operation), Portugal

Panelists:

Kim THORNDEN EDWARDS, Chief Probation Officer, HMPPS, United Kingdom
Zvonimir PENIĆ, acting Director General, Prison and Probation Directorate, Ministry of Justice, Croatia
Oleksandr NIKONISHYN, Deputy Head of the Department of Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Ukraine