Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova

The Programme ”Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” is in line with the strategic priorities for cooperation as formulated in the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova for 2017-2020, and is funded by the Norwegian government.

It is aimed to ensure a higher respect for human rights and the rule of law by assisting the national authorities in building up an efficiently functioning criminal justice system, in line with European human rights standards, and based on the principles of humanisation, resocialisation and restorative justice.

Main intervention areas will cover policy/legal framework, institutional and practical implementation levels, with the focus on:

Consolidation of criminal justice policy, legislation and judiciary practice in line with international standards with respect to the liberalization of criminal proceedings, including strengthening the application of non-custodial pre-trial preventive measures and sanctions, alternative sanctions in criminal cases, improvement of probation services and release on parole mechanisms
Better treatment and resocialisation of inmates by improving the regulatory and policy framework as well as prison staff capacities relevant to regime arrangements and management of prisons, implementation of treatment programmes and provision of health care services for inmates;
Support towards the development of the capacities of criminal justice stakeholders in the light of the implementation of the on-going reforms, including judiciary, prosecution service, as well as Ombudsperson’s institution and National Prevention Mechanism (NPM).

The Programme is expected to be implemented in 36 months (as of 1 March 2018).

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Back Recommendations for the revision of Law 300/2017 on the prison administration system in the Republic of Moldova

@ Council of Europe

The aim of the revision of Law 300/2017 on prison administration system in the Republic of Moldova was to introduce the purpose of the prison service and its guiding work principles, and to review the criteria for the recruitment, promotion and motivation of the penitentiary system staff. In the context of the assistance provided by the Council of Europe to the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) of the Republic of Moldova, a Working Group (WG) has held several sessions since May 2019 and presented its conclusions at the last one, organised in Chisinau on 28-29 October 2019.

The work of the Group was structured in several thematic areas, such as recruitment, training, discipline procedures, management competencies, medical assistance, economic activities, staff employment and retention within the system. Apart from specific recommendations for amending the Law 300/2017 regarding these thematic areas, several important concepts such as “dynamic security” and “purposeful activities” were embedded in the draft text in line with the Council of Europe standards and best practices.

The recommended amendments to the Law will be conveyed to the NAP and the Ministry of Justice for further analysis and consultations with stakeholders and for adoption.

The WG was composed of representatives of specialised Departments of NAP and prison governors, and was facilitated by the Council of Europe consultants. It operated under the auspices of the Programme “Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova”, funded by the Government of Norway and implemented by the Council of Europe.

Chisinau 28-29 October 2019