SPERU - Further Support to the Penitentiary Reform in Ukraine

This project was co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the main partners, namely the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the State Executive Service and its interregional branches, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the General Prosecutor Office, the Ombudsmen Office and Civil Society organisations and other relevant national stakeholders interested in penitentiary reform in Ukraine.

Thanks to this project, Ukrainian authorities have been assisted in the promotion of Human rights in the management of prisons as well as in the further development of a rehabilitative approach to offenders in line with the Council of Europe standards, in particular those of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture an Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), and taking into account the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Joint Programme (JP) SPERU achieved the following outcomes:

enhancement of Justice system actors’ awareness to proceed with the penitentiary reform based on the Council of Europe standards
partnerships between the justice system, community services and civil society are facilitated to enhance resocialization and reintegration of prisoners
justice system capacity is enhanced to develop and implement healthcare strategy in prisons

Further support to the reforms in the field of prison and the protection of prisoners’ rights is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021.

The project implementation started in July 2019 and ended bewteen October 2021 and April 2022.

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back JP SPERU: third Steering Committee Meeting

@ Council of Europe

The third Steering Committee meeting of the EU and CoE Joint Programme entitled "European Union and Council of Europe working together to strengthening human rights in Ukraine", and notably its third component on the "Support to Prison Reform in Ukraine (JP SPERU)", took place on 16 June 2021, online. It was organised together with the other two components, which cover freedom of the media and the strengthening of the Ombudsperson's capacity to protect human rights.

The meeting brought together the representatives of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Verkhovna Rada, Department of the Execution of the Criminal Sanctions (SDECSU), Ombudsperson, as well as other representatives from the EU and the CoE.

The progress achieved during the reporting period (November 2020 – June 2021) was presented and assessed together with the challenges faced throughout the project implementation. A nine-month no-cost extension of the overall Joint Programme was also discussed, and strategic guidance to maximise impact was provided.

The importance of SPERU's no-cost extension was highlighted for continued support to the ongoing penitentiary reform and further improvement of the capacities of the penitentiary system to refocus from punitive to rehabilitative approach.

The main beneficiaries expressed appreciation of the CoE and the SPERU's strong support provided to Ukraine in the prison reform implementation process and confirmed their readiness for further improving the cooperation.

Co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, JP SPERU is designed to promote human rights compliant management of prisons, including better alignment of prison healthcare provisions with European standards.

Ukraine 21 June 2021