During September 2022, probation officers from offices in Split, Zagreb and Dubrovnik underwent training at probation offices in Dublin, Ireland.
The activity was carried out under the project "Strengthening human rights protection and public safety by improving the capacities of the Croatian probation service", implemented by the Directorate for Prison System and Probation, and financed under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.
On this occasion, five probation officers had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of the Irish Probation Service.
During their stay in Dublin, probation officers had the opportunity to visit the oldest prison in Ireland and get acquainted with the probation service in prison and legal entities where convicts execute the sanction of community service, and to gain insight into the manner of execution of that sanction. They also visited a Homeless Persons Unit at the Department of Social Protection, the Probation Service Head Office, a Probation Office in Dublin, as well as the Dublin Drug Treatment Court. During these visits, probation officers were introduced to the manner of work of probation officers in different types of tasks, distribution of tasks and organisational structure, the manner of assessment of convicts and the treatment programmes implemented there. They participated in individual interviews with convicts and thus gained direct insight into the work of Irish colleagues. It was also organised for Croatian probation officers to participate in a lecture on the specific aspects of working with Roma and Travellers.
Activities such as this one, involving probation officers from Croatia, contributes to the dissemination of knowledge and opportunities within the probation service, both for each participant and for the probation service in general, where examples of good practice of another country can contribute to the development of the probation service of the country conducting the activity.
