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).

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Professional development course for medical and non-medical staff of the penitentiary system of the Republic of Moldova

A fourteen-weeks’ professional development course for medical and non-medical staff of the prison system of the Republic of Moldova has started on 19 July and finished on 27 October 2021, when, as a result of the course, an overall number of 121 accreditations were issued to medical and non-medical professionals from the prison system.

During three consecutive courses (with the cumulative duration of 90 academic hours) multidisciplinary teams - doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and social assistants improved their knowledge and skills on topics like management of emergencies in public healthcare, quality management in medical institutions and promotion of health, communication and counselling in health care.

The added value of the course is that it has been delivered by an educational institution accredited to provide continuing education based on a curriculum agreed with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Spots as well as with the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the academic credits issued on the grounds of the courses are in line with the national regulations. This factor constitutes a step forward towards aligning the healthcare services provision in prisons to the requirements of the public healthcare services as well as to the Council of Europe recommendations in the field.

It is also worth mentioning, that the content of the professional development courses was adapted to better respond to the peculiarities of heath care provision in prison setting. At the same time, the courses included mandatory topics, aligned to the provisions of some strategic documents, developed with the support of the Council of Europe, like the draft Mental Health Strategy for the prison administration system of the Republic of Moldova for 2021-2023, which is a good indicator of synergy built between different activities.

The training sessions were attended by medical and non-medical staff from all 16 penitentiary institutions of the country as well as from the Prison Hospital, and was delivered by the academia of the School of Management in Public Health under ”N. Testemițanu” Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

The activity is organised under the auspices of the Programme “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova”, financed through the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova (2021-2024).

Moldova 29 October 2021