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

On 24–25 September 2025 in Kraków, Poland, the 30th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (CDPPS) took place, under the theme “Can we move away from the overuse of penal sanctions?”.

Directors General of prison and probation services from 46 member states, along with practitioners, NGOs, and researchers gathered to explore pressing issues including: the use of data and risk assessment tools in penal policy reform; trauma-informed care and positive health; addressing the needs of children with imprisoned parents; and strategic crisis management in prison and probation settings.

Among the key challenges discussed, overcrowding remains a serious problem. According to the Council of Europe’s most recent SPACE I statistics (31 January 2024), there are 1,021,431 people detained in the 51 prison administrations of Council of Europe member states, with a median prison population rate of 105 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants.

When penal sanctions are overused — when incarceration becomes the default rather than the last resort — multiple problems emerge: human rights risks, damage to rehabilitative potential, strained resources, and difficulties in reintegration. At the conference, participants emphasized that alternatives and reforms are not just desirable but increasingly necessary.

The Kraków conference makes clear that moving away from overreliance on penal sanctions is not just a philosophical goal — it’s a practical necessity. With prison populations rising in many countries, and overcrowding severe in several, the status quo is unsustainable.

While change will require policy shifts, resources, collaboration (between justice, health, social services, NGOs), and careful evaluation, the workshops and plenary sessions showed that Europe is increasingly ready to explore alternatives.