The Conference on international standards and best practices on disciplinary and reward procedures in prisons, held on 13 and 14 June 2023 in Ankara, gathered more than 160 prison practitioners, representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate General for Prisons and Detention Houses (DGPDH), members of the Civil Monitoring Boards (CMB), enforcement judges, prosecutors, the Ombudsman Office, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), academia, as well as representatives from several foreign embassies in the Republic of Türkiye.

Council of Europe (CoE) and other international standards on discipline procedures and good practices on reward systems for prisoners, as well as the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights were presented and discussed. All relevant stakeholders agreed on the importance of the standardised and efficient discipline and reward system in Türkiye which will be introduced through legislative amendments and changes in policy and practice.

The DGPDH also acknowledged the need for a revision of the legal framework governing disciplinary procedures in prisons in Türkiye, that will help to bring the national system closer to the CoE standards and best European practices. There is also a consensus that prison directors and staff should be made aware of the importance of rewarding prisoners for good behaviour; this can be achieved by introducing targeted training modules for penitentiary staff.

At the Conference the DGPDH also presented the measures it took to ensure sustainability of the results of the Project on “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Civil Monitoring Boards in Line with European Standards” which had been implemented by the CoE between 2019 and 2022.

This Conference was organised within the scope of the Project on "Enhancing the Disciplinary and Reward Procedures for Prisoners in Türkiye” co-funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund of the Council of Europe, Norway, Belgium, Türkiye and the Netherlands.