The European Commission sent out a call for submissions this year for their Green Paper on the application of EU criminal justice legislation in the field of detention.

The Green Paper contained 10 questions, and the Commission was interested in receiving feedback, comments and replies from practitioners, such as judges, prosecutors and lawyers and other legal practitioners, police officers, directors of prison administrations, people working in the social and probation services, pre-trial detention centres and prisons, academic circles, relevant NGOs and government bodies. In short, all persons and entities with an interest in DG Justice’s activities were welcomed to contribute, including other European institutions, such as the Council of Europe, agencies and committees and the United Nations.

The Commission wished to explore the extent to which detention issues (following a criminal offence) impact on mutual trust, and consequently on mutual recognition and judicial cooperation generally within the European Union. Whilst detention conditions and prison management are the responsibility of Member States, the Commission was interested in this issue because of the central importance of the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions for the area of freedom, security and justice. The Commission seeks to know if further action is necessary and possible? If yes, what kind of action?

Our network responded with a paper on children with imprisoned parents throughout Europe to ensure that their rights were acknowledged within this important conversation.