Parliament on Thursday, December 6, has passed the Probation Bill in first reading. The law provides an alternative to detention and aims to keep the persons convicted of crimes inside the community, by applying social inclusion strategies and promoting the idea of social security. The probation law will apply to persons in conflict with the criminal law as well as to persons freed from detention seeking social re-integration. Probation will be of four types: pre-sentence probation – will apply to suspects, accused, culprits; in-community probation sentence– will apply to persons convicted of a crime with suspension of the jail sentence on condition of sustained lawful behaviour; penitentiary probation – will apply to detained persons; post-penitentiary probation – will apply to persons freed from detention. The probation law also sets out rights, obligations and procedures for juvenile probation. The law takes effect 6 months after publishing.