The Council of Europe is assisting the Albanian prison service to improve its Internal Regulation by integrating Council of Europe standards, introducing for the first time the role of personal officers and case managers.

To support this process, a working group meeting was held on 18-19 November 2025 in Tirana, bringing together prison staff, as well as prison directors and the Directorate General of Prison Administration. An international consultant examined the Internal Regulation of Albanian Prisons in light of European Prison Rules and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment standards in the field.

On the first day, participants tackled the results of the first tests of the new internal classification system of prisoners, piloted in the prisons of Korca, Burrel, Peqin, and Shkodra. They looked closely at the differences between what is written in the rules and what actually happens in practice. The second day of the workshop was dedicated to the introduction of two new concepts, personal officer and case manager, who will help improve the implementation of case management and support prisoners’ gradual reintegration and release.

By improving internal regulation in line with European standards, it is expected the Albanian prison system to offer better perspective for resocialization of inmates.

The activity was conducted in the framework of the Action on “Enhancing the protection of Human Rights of prisoners in Albania” part of the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme ”Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.