Further Support to the penitentiary reform in Azerbaijan

This 24-month project is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the main project partners, namely the Penitentiary Service and the Main Medical Department of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan and other national stakeholders interested in penitentiary reform.

With this Joint Project the Council of Europe will assist the Azerbaijani authorities in the process of enhancing human rights protection of sentenced persons in Azerbaijan in line with the Council of Europe standards, in particular those of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).

The JP SPERA-2 focuses on three areas:

effective prison management,
the provision of healthcare in prisons and
the reintegration of prisoners in line with European standards and best practices. This component involves the participation of civil society actors.

The JP SPERA-2 has an overall project budget of EUR 773 940 co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

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Back New Mental Screening Tool for the Azerbaijani Prisons

The Council of Europe continues supporting the Azerbaijani prison system by providing guidance and recommendations to the prison medical staff.

A new mental health screening tool was developed in February-March 2021. Based on the most prominent international research and evidence-based practice, the Tool aims to identify the risks in the context of the prisoner's sentence, medical concerns, past and current mental health symptoms - with a particular focus on self-harm, etc. It will guide the prison medical staff to assess the prisoner's mental health condition accurately.

The Tool will be translated into the Azerbaijani language and presented to the beneficiaries.

This activity was organised by the European Union and Council of Europe Joint Project "Support to the Penitentiary Reform in Azerbaijan" (JP SPERA-2), which is designed to promote effective prison management, health care in prisons and assist the reintegration of ex-offenders.

Azerbaijan April 2021