⬤ Context
Cross-border execution of judgements involving the deprivation of liberty has been a reality within the European Union (EU) for years.
In fact, per annum, a non-negligible number of individuals are prosecuted or convicted in an EU Member State (MS) other than the one of their habitual residence or nationality. More concretely, in 2020, of the 1,528,343 inmates in Council of Europe Member States (MSs), approximately 15% were foreign inmates (Council of Europe, 2021). In particular, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France rank among the countries with the highest percentage of foreign inmates in Europe (Aebi & Tiago, 2021). In the case of foreigners, EU judges are known to tend towards the application of custodial measures, thereby feeding pre-existing vulnerabilities and hindering the application of less coercive supervision measures (Hofmann & Nelen, 2020). In this context, Framework Decision (FD) 2008/909 offers notorious advantages for the rehabilitation, resocialisation, and reintegration of foreign-national convicted offenders –encompassing its guiding rationale (Flynn & Woods, 2015). |