NCJ Number
114521
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
When the Council of Europe created the Committee on Crime Problems in 1956, a trend to limit the use of custodial sentences and promote freedom was already evident in most countries.
Abstract
Treatment in freedom could be more efficient, humane, and less costly. Traditional alternatives such as probation were already being implemented by qualified personnel according to sophisticated techniques. Over time, the Committee had continued to show an interest in the use of alternatives. In 1959, it created an ad hoc committee to examine alternatives to imprisonment and in 1965 adopted a resolution on alternatives. In addition, the Committee examined problems of European cooperation and mutual assistance in implementing conditional sentences and releases. In 1964, it issued a convention on supervision in conditional sentences and releases and commissioned a study of probation and aftercare in 11 European countries. Rules for the implementation of noncustodial measures were published in 1970. A resolution calls for Governments to examine short-term treatment of adult offenders, to individualize sentences, and to mandate and implement a set of carefully graded measures intermediate to imprisonment and complete liberty (e.g., weekend detention, community service, fines, probation). A second study on alternatives was published in 1976. These and other activities and publications have led all member States to expand existing alternatives and create new ones. 16 footnotes.