Federal Association of Facility Managers in Prisons
The Federal Association of Institution Directors in Prisons e. V. ("bvaj") is an association of active and former executives of the penal system .
It has set itself the task of discussing issues related to the penal system, promoting their solutions and exchanging experiences at working conferences on problems of the penal system. There are annual training conferences.
Although the federalism reform of 2006 gave the federal states significantly more room for maneuver in the area of penal systems, the association strives for a uniform implementation of penal systems within the scope of the Basic Law and offers prison management support in fulfilling their tasks. Through the federal association, the members should be given the opportunity to convey suggestions, to prepare proposed solutions, to participate in questions of further training for prison staff and to advise legislative and executive bodies in advance of planned changes to the law and with regard to the application of the law . The federal association pursues exclusively altruistic purposes.
The federal association was founded at the suggestion of Albert Krebs . First, in October 1970, some of the prison directors met in Frankfurt am Main. They formed a preparatory committee with the heads of the institution Dieter Bandell, Diez / Lahn, Wilhelm Buhr, Saarbrücken, Ernst Greif, Lübeck and Gerhard Nagel, Ulm. This committee drew up a statute that was sent to all prison managers in the Federal Republic of Germany. Due to the numerous positive feedback, on 19./20. March 1971 in Bad Godesberg brought the federal association into being. The founding assembly was headed by Nagel. Also present were the initiator Albert Krebs, Rudolf Sieverts (University of Hamburg) and MD Cortes from the Federal Ministry of Justice, who hoped to find a partner in the association to exchange experiences. The state justice administrations had also sent greetings and congratulations to the founding meeting.
According to the statutes, there is a narrower and an extended board. The inner board includes the first chairman and two other deputy chairmen as well as a secretary and a treasurer. The extended board consists of one representative from each of the 16 federal states. Starting with Gerhard Nagel, who was the chairman for 15 years and who had a decisive influence on the federal association, Harald Preusker, Dieter Bandell, Klaus Winchenbach and the current chairman Wolfgang Fixson followed. Honorary membership in the board has been awarded to Albert Krebs and Paul Kühling. The number of members rose from 32 in the founding year to over 300 today, whereby deputy heads of the institution can also become members.
According to § 2 of the statutes, it is the task and goal of the federal association to enable a mutual exchange of experiences and to work out suggestions and solutions for the further development of the penal system in Germany and in Europe. The annual training and further education conferences, international study trips (to the USA, Italy, France, England, Scotland, Holland, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada and South Africa) and international conferences in other countries serve this goal Conferences with other professional groups in the penal system. In 1993 the federal association in Straubing organized a symposium with 90 directors from 27 European countries. The 2006 annual conference was held abroad for the first time in Pilsen (Czech Republic). The lectures and other contributions or essays held there are published in the series of the Federal Association. The editor is Rolf Herrfahrdt.
The federal association is in constant contact with the prison department of the Federal Ministry of Justice and with the state ministries. At each annual meeting, a representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice gives an overview of federal law projects in the area of the penal system.
At the end of the 1970s, the Federal Association set up a legal working group to develop opinions on draft laws and legislative proposals, as well as theses on individual issues relating to the penal system. The chairman of the working group is Rolf Herrfahrdt. Members of the working group are invited to hearings at the Federal Constitutional Court or at the state parliaments.