ABSTRACT
Alternative measures have been in place in Greece for over a century and have had wide application in recent years. Their implementation, however, has not been associated with assistance or support and a culture of penal welfare has been newly introduced for adult offenders (the probation service for adults started operating in 2007). This report is focusing on mapping legislation and practice governing breach processes in relation to community service and conditional release. As empirical criminological research in Greece is lacking and since the topic itself is under researched throughout Europe, limited available evidence is combined with preliminary qualitative remarks following small scale research conducted during the course of the COST project, in order to draft a picture of current breach practices. Yet, it is mainly through the deliberations of our working group on “decision-making in the breach process” in the last four years that a certain degree of light has been shed on Greek breach processes. Continuous discussions, insightful comments and comparative exercises among our respective jurisdictions have contributed towards clarifying different actors, levels of discretion, layers of decision-making and the level of due process rights available at each stage of the process, as presented in this report.
