On 26-29 June 2023, 10 representatives of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia (PDO), including the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), and of the Georgian Ministry of Justice (in particular the General Inspection Division and Monitoring Department of the Special Penitentiary Service) carried a study visit to Copenhagen, Denmark.

The participants were welcomed and hosted by the representatives of the Danish NPM, the Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman, as well as the Danish Institute of Human Rights (DIHR) and the Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY).

Besides, the delegation visited two closed institutions in Copenhagen – Herstedvester Institution, a specialised institution for prisoners with mental health problems, and the Western Prison, the main remand prison. ”.

The visit allowed the Georgian delegation to exchange experiences and learn about Danish best practices on monitoring the provision of mental healthcare in penitentiary institutions, use of monitoring tools, collaboration between the NPM and other monitoring bodies, role of the Istanbul Protocol on effective investigation and documentation of torture, structures and services of Danish penitentiary institutions and common challenges. The study visit also helped the Georgian delegation to establish contacts with their Danish counterparts and discuss future cooperation.

During the study visit, the delegation also met the 2nd Vice-President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), who is a representative of Denmark, to exchange monitoring experiences on mental health issues in prisons and discuss some of the CPT recommendations to Georgia.

The study visit was organised in the framework of the CoE project “Enhancing Healthcare Provision in Georgia’s Penitentiary System” in cooperation with the Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Project is funded under the auspices of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia (2020-2023).