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Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 22 March 2017 at the 1282nd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, Considering the importance of establishing common principles regarding integrated penal policies among the member States of the Council of Europe in order to strengthen international co‑operation in this field; Noting the considerable development which has occurred in member States in the use of sanctions and measures whose enforcement takes place in the community; Considering that these sanctions and measures constitute important ways of combating crime, of reducing the harm that it causes and of enhancing justice, and that they avoid the negative effects of remand in custody and of imprisonment; Considering the importance attached to the development of international norms for the creation, imposition and implementation of these sanctions and measures; Aware that with the passage of time, new possibilities for a more effective use of community sanctions and measures emerge and that imprisonment must therefore be used only as a measure of last resort; Recognising furthermore that important developments and changing practice in the area of sanctions and measures enforced in the community and the issues identified by member States, call for regular updating of the provisions contained in the European Rules on community sanctions and measures; Emphasising that the recourse to, and the implementation of these sanctions and measures shall always be guided by respect for fundamental legal safeguards as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), and by the principles laid down in the European Rules on community sanctions and measures; Recognising the relevance to the present recommendation of the following Committee of Ministers’ Recommendations: Rec(92)17 concerning consistency in sentencing, Rec(97)12 on staff concerned with the implementation of sanctions and measures, Rec(99)19 concerning mediation in penal matters, Rec(99)22 concerning prison overcrowding and prison population inflation, Rec(2003)22 concerning conditional release (parole), CM/Rec(2010)1 on the Council of Europe Probation Rules and CM/Rec(2014)4 on electronic monitoring; Bearing in mind the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non‑custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules);