About the project:

The project “New European Standards for the Implementation of Alternatives to Prison” is implementing by the Beneficiary Association “Bulgarian-Romanian Trans-border Mediation Institute” (www.brtim.com) in partnership with Association “Institute of Conflict Resolution” (http://www.icr-bg.org).

General information:

·     Contract № 93-00-133/12.03.2015

·     Donor: Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014

·     Programme area: Small Grant Scheme, Programme BG 15 "Correctional Services Including Non-Custodial Measures"

·     Programme operator: Ministry of Justice

·     Total project budget: 113 237,50 BGN, of which 101 913,75 BGN – grant amount and  11 323,75 BGN – own contribution

·     Period of implementation: 12.03.2015 – 30.04.2016

Project objectives:

The overall objective of the project is to improve the operation of the system for execution of punishments in the Republic of Bulgaria in accordance with the relevant international instruments for the implementation of probation and alternative measures as an alternative to imprisonment, in cooperation with NGOs and stakeholders.

The specific objectives of the project are:

·     Facilitating the access of judges and prosecutors to the European standards and materials on pre-sentence probation reports and by studying the experience of leading countries such as Norway and Hungary;

·     Improving the practical skills and knowledge of judges, prosecutors and probation officers for increased use of alternatives to prison;

·     Raising awareness of the application of probation and alternative measures among stakeholders and the general public.

The overall and specific objectives of the project are corresponding to the objectives of Program BG15 "Correctional Services Including Non-Custodial Measures". The project implementation is consistent with Expected Output 2 of the Program.

Activities:

·     Research of European standards for probation and alternative measures - the experience of Norway and Hungary

·     Assessment of training needs and development of curricula, programs and materials for initial and continuing training

·     Training of judges, prosecutors and probation officers. Training of Trainers

·     Measures to raise awareness regarding the application of probation and alternative measures

·     Management and coordination of the project

Target groups:

The following target groups are included in the project implementation: 10 judges from Ruse and Blagoevgrad judicial districts, 10 prosecutors from Ruse and Blagoevgrad judicial districts and 40 probation officers from the District Office Implementation of Penalties - sector "Probation", of which 30 from Ruse, Razgrad and Blagoevgrad and 10 from across the country.

Through established training programs and materials based on this research experience of Norway and Hungary, in line with European documents in criminal law and in particular the divergent measures will be built on the capacity of the judiciary to increased use of alternatives to prison in Bulgaria.