the institutionalization of probation in romania: situational practice and strategies in the context of the (post-) accession to the european union

This study deals with the history of the institution of probation in Romania, its stages of development, its development strategies and practice, as well as the situational strategies specific to the crisis situations generated by the decision of aligning the activity of probation counselors to the relevant European rules In order to give consistency to our attempt, we focused on a crisis faced by the national probation system services, a moment triggered by the entry into force, as of April 1, 2007, of the amendments to Article 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The new provisions of Article 482 set out the obligation of criminal prosecution bodies (the police and prosecution offices) or of courts of law to request assessment reports in cases involving underage delinquents. The task of drafting these assessment reports is incumbent on the probation counselors in the 41 units existing at the national level. The study carried out within the Bucharest Probation Service tried to capture the practice and reactions of counselors in the context of the overloading of the Service's activity, the coping strategies for overcoming the crisis situation and the conclusion thereof.