Key points of SPACE II 2015
• The participation rate in the 2015 SPACE II Survey was very satisfying: 47 out of the 52 probation services of the 47 Council of Europe Member States answered the questionnaire.
• About 80% of the probation services of the responding countries are placed under the authority of the national Ministry of Justice. This authority is shared with the Prison Administration in around 34% of these cases.
• During the year 2015, 1,173,278 persons entered into supervision by the probation services, and 1,130,444 left that supervision. For countries with at least one million inhabitants, this represents an average rate of 227.7 entries and 167.3 exits per 100,000 inhabitants. As a comparison, in 2014, there 220.9 entries per 100,000 inhabitants (+3.07% in 2015) and 165.6 exits per 100,000 inhabitants (+1.02% in 2015). Between 2010 and 2015, the entries into supervision per 100,000 population decreased by 9.3% and the exits decreased by 10.4%.
• On 31st December 2015, there were 1,239,426 persons under the supervision or care of the probation services of the responding countries. For countries with at least one million inhabitants, this represents an average rate of 195 per 100,000 inhabitants. As a comparison, on 31st December 2014, the average rate of persons under the supervision or care of the probation services was 196.5 per 100,000 inhabitants (-0.7% in 2015). Between 2010 and 2015, the decrease reached 9.7%.
• Non-custodial sanctions and measures are seldom used as an alternative to pre-trial detention: Roughly, only 7.5% of the probation population corresponds to persons placed under supervision before trial.
• On average, on 31st December 2015, female probation clients represented 9.8% of the total probation population. The proportion of minors and foreigners was 4.9% and 15.1% respectively.
• On average, there are 5.6 probation staff members per 100,000 inhabitants, with great individual variation among the responding countries.
• On average, each probation staff member across Europe is in charge of 10.8 pre-sentence reports.
• In 24 countries, probation is used for all kind of criminal offences.
• The average length of probation for persons sentenced for violence against persons and robbery are 17.5 months and 20.1 months respectively.
• The longer length of probation is, on average, 22.8 months, and corresponds to persons sentenced for sexual offences.