The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) is a non-political, non-governmental organisation founded in 2011. The initiative to establish EuroPris was taken during the Swedish EU Presidency in 2009 and was brought forward by the European countries of the International Roundtable for Correctional Excellence.
Membership of the Association is open to those European national Prison and Correctional Administrations which are able and willing to support the agreed aims and objectives of the Association. Public institutions or organisations in the Council of Europe region, which provide prison or correctional services on a legal or statutory basis can become members of EuroPris.
EuroPris brings together practitioners in the prisons’ arena with the specific intention of promoting ethical and rights-based imprisonment, exchanging information and providing expert assistance to support this agenda. The organisation exists to improve co-operation among European Prison and Correctional Services, with the aim of improving the lives of prisoners and their families, enhancing public safety and security; reducing re-offending; and advancing professionalism in the corrections’ field.
The specific goals of the organisation are to:
- advance the operational capabilities and professionalism of prison and correctional practitioners across Europe;
- act as an ‘expert group’ on prison matters within Europe;
- contribute to, and support the development of, European prison-related policy and legislation, within the framework of standards established by the European Union and the Council of Europe;
- be available to policy-makers in an advisory capacity on prison-related matters;
- generate relationships and exchange information with other organisations working in the prisons and criminal justice arena, both in Europe and beyond, with a view to developing best practice in the field; and
- advance the above agenda by, wherever possible, engaging in collaborative, funded, programmatic work.