Criminal Justice and Security in Central and Eastern Europe
New Risks, Crime, Policing, Courts, Prisons and Security in the Post-COVID-19 Times - Challenges and Opportunities

Welcome to the 15th Biennial International Conference on Criminal Justice and Security in Central and Eastern Europe, organized by the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security of University of Maribor, Slovenia. This conference focuses on the contemporary security landscape in Europe and beyond, marked by numerous uncertainties and emerging forms of deviance and crime, including cybercrime, migration-related offences (such as migrant smuggling), and environmental threats.

The primary aim of the 15th biennial Conference is to share the latest views, concepts, and research findings from criminal justice studies on security and criminology by scientists, researchers, and practitioners from around the world. The conference will highlight new ideas, theories, methods, and findings in a wide range of research and applied areas of contemporary policing, criminal justice and security.

The conference addresses challenges faced by law enforcement, courts, and prisons, particularly in terms of policing quality, legitimacy, professionalism, criminal justice, and penal sanctions. Additionally, it delves into the presentation of crime and security reality, emphasizing perspectives related to securitization, moral panic, and the impact of recent political agendas on social issues. Comparative perspectives (international, continental, regional, and intranational) and temporal viewpoints (including longitudinal studies spanning pre- and post-COVID-19 periods) will be presented.

Our plenary sessions follow a structured approach, moving from general discussions on contemporary social changes to specific topics related to security, safety, criminal justice, and criminology. Panels cover a wide range of subjects, including theoretical and empirical research, policymaking, applied research, practical insights from law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, and various criminological and security themes. We also have planned round tables to address current criminological, criminal justice, and security challenges, as well as author-meets-critics sessions to showcase recent publications by conference participants.

For the first time, we have more plenaries than in the past. Eight plenaries are organized in the manner that an address of an internationally renowned scholar is followed by a scholar from the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security. Plenary speakers are presented below.

We look forward to fruitful discussions and valuable insights during this conference!

Security and safety in local communities - comparison of rural and urban environments, (2015-2028; 2019-2024; 2025-2027), research programme No. P5-0397 financed by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS).