Criminal detention and alternatives: fundamental rights aspects in EU cross-border transfers Promising practice Informing accused or sentenced persons about the possibility of transfer Promising practices are emerging in how states provide information to accused/sentenced persons. While published national laws serve as the only source of information in many states, others summarise relevant information and package it in an accessible and understandable manner for accused/sentenced persons. Factsheets In conjunction with the text of the law, some states offer explanatory factsheets and brochures explaining the process for transfers of sentences and supervision measures. This information is either made publicly available on the website of the Ministry of Justice or the Prison and Probation Services, or the information is provided directly to sentenced persons when they receive their sentence or arrive in prison. Sweden, Poland, Croatia and Germany provide information directly to prisoners, either in the form of a Prisoner’s Manual on arrival or in the form of information sheets for foreign prisoners (it is unclear in what languages other than the local language this is provided). Romania, Luxembourg, Ireland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Finland also make relevant information sheets publicly available online. For example, Luxembourg provides general information online that makes it clear that under domestic law consent is necessary for transfers under all three Framework Decisions. The Netherlands has a range of factsheets covering different topics, including general information for foreign prisoners about the mutual acknowledgment of detention and probation sanctions; general information on serving sentences in the Netherlands; a factsheet explaining the transfer of criminal judgments; a brochure on conditional release; and a brochure on mutual recognition of supervision measures in pre-trial situations. Telephone Information Desk In the Netherlands, information on the Framework Decisions and the rights of prisoners is made publicly available through a telephone information desk run by the Department of Justice. Web-based resources The United Kingdom has a  web-based resettlement toolkit named ‘Tracks’, which is designed for prisoners, prison officers and probation staff, and provides information on resettlement options, including prisoner transfer arrangements. Source: Netherlands, Telephone Information Desk: Ministry of Security and Justice (Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie) (2015), Buitenlandse straf uitzitten in Nederland; Factsheet in English: Custodial Institutions Agency (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen) (2013), WOTS. Serving a sentence in your own country? Information sheet for foreign prisoners in the Netherlands; United Kingdom, Tracks Cyprus269, the Czech Republic, Estonia,270 Finland, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain). Four Member States (Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia) appear to have no information available. This section looks at the existence of special procedures, either in law or in practice, to inform suspects, accused persons or sentenced persons of the option to transfer a judgment or decision to another EU Member State. The Framework Decisions do not provide for any special procedure; hence it is up to national legislators and practitioners to decide on how to provide information to suspects and sentenced persons. Figure 13 shows how many Member States have established procedures to provide information to sentenced persons about the option to transfer. 269 Ibid. 270 Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA; Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA; Council Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA. 86 Specifically, it shows that more than half of the EU Member States271 have established a procedure – either in law or in practice – to inform sentenced persons about the option to transfer in accordance with the Framework Decision on transfer of prisoners. Nine states have not established any such procedure. In practice, in many states – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom – prison authorities inform sentenced persons about the option to transfer. In Latvia, the administration of the penitentiary institution informs foreign citizens convicted in Latvia or persons whose permanent place of residence is not in Latvia, that they have the right to express their wish to serve their punishment in the state of their citizenship or permanent residence. The information must be provided within 10 days after the 271 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.