HF II North Macedonia - Enhancing penitentiary system External Oversight Mechanism

As part of the co-operation framework co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, known as the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey, phase II (Horizontal Facility II), the Council of Europe implemented the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the External Oversight Mechanism in North Macedonia”, in close cooperation and partnership with the Ministry of Justice (Directorate for Execution of Sanctions), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office. The Action also involved a wide group of other national stakeholders, including prominent civil society organisations active in the area of protection and promotion of human rights.

The main aim of the Action was to contribute to a safer and more humane society that respects and protects the rights of detained and sentenced persons in line with the Council of Europe standards in the area of penitentiary and law enforcement.

The key Conventions for this Action were the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), as well as the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The duration of the project was set at 36 months and it was completed by 31 December 2022, with an overall budget of 1,050,000 Euros.

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Prison healthcare staff in North Macedonia trained on medical ethics

Twenty doctors and nurses working across the penitentiary system in North Macedonia advanced their skills on medical ethics by attending an online training session on 11 December 2020. The focus of the training was on mental health services in prisons and the provision of and treatment of users of psychoactive substances.

Despite the additional challenges caused by Covid-19, the participants were actively engaged in discussing the topics related to their daily work. The training provided an opportunity to exchange views on key issues faced by the practitioners. In addition, the medical staff can now benefit from the translation of the Manual on Prison health care and medical ethics into Macedonian language.

This training was delivered by Dr Jörg Pont, author of the Council of Europe publication “Prison healthcare and medical ethics”, tailored for prison healthcare workers and other staff who have responsibility for the prisoners’ well-being.

This activity was organised within the scope of the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the external oversight mechanism in North Macedonia”, that is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” and implemented by the Council of Europe

11 December 2020