Expert: The goal of probation service is holding the person away from penitentiary institution, if there is an alternative

“Probation service aims at preventing a person from getting into penitentiary facility, if there’s a possible alternative”, - said international expert Martin Seddon during a student seminar in the Yerevan State University (YSU) Faculty of Law Courtroom held in the frameworks of “Assistance in creation of probation service in Armenia” project.

In his words, probation service concerns those who committed minor and medium gravity offences, and their cases, upon reaching the court, create difficulties in terms of deciding the punishment.

“It is not about those serious offenders, but those, who stole drugs, broke into houses and stole mobile phones, about homeless, poor and those that get drunk and break the law. When their cases reach the court, it turns out to be difficult, as the courts want to do different things: on one hand, they want to punish the offender, on the other – they want to correct the assailant and get assurances that the victim will receive some form of indemnification. Most countries agree that sending non-grave offenders to prison is not a solution to the problem,” - the expert said.

Seddon said that among possible sentences for the person under probation service are volunteering, which is common in Europe, monitoring in the office, or via internet or electronic devices.

“Office supervision entails systematic and serious meetings with the offender, which can also be in a form of group work. In case of internet monitoring, the probation service rents a house and hires 12-15 contract employees, they conduct intensive discussions and then the person’s state becomes more stable, whereas in other circumstances the person would hardly seize committing crimes”, - he said.

According to Seddon, electronic monitoring is also efficient, which is one of the main methods of supervision, and it had been introduced around 30 years ago. In this case the offender wears a chain on his leg and there is a small indicator which beeps whenever the offender leaves the house farther than allowed, and it reports to the central office.

The expert said in recent times various means of supervision have been introduced.

The expert remarked that it’s more complicated in case of drug-addicts and the probation service is employed when the offender agrees to undergo medical tests every week.

The project is implemented by the Council of Europe, sponsored by Norwegian government.