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 Progress towards developing the Code of Ethics for prison healthcare staff: first working group meeting

@ Council of Europe

The 1st meeting of the Working Group on the development of the Code of Ethics for the prison healthcare staff in Ukraine took place online on 3 December 2020. During the meeting, the WG members discussed national and international standards and principles relevant to medical ethics in prison healthcare and agreed on the scope and purpose of the Code of Ethics.

The Code provides for important ethical standards to be applied by healthcare professionals in prisons, including hygiene and health promotion, confidentiality, medical documentation and record keeping. The Code aspires to instil a “patient-oriented” culture within healthcare provision in the penitentiary system of Ukraine.

The participants agreed that the Code should be tailor-made to the realities of the penitentiary system of Ukraine and its provisions should be in line with the country’s human rights commitments in this field.

This activity was organised within the framework of the EU and Council of Europe Joint Project "Support to Prison Reform in Ukraine - SPERU", which is designed to promote human rights compliant management of prisons, including better alignment of prison healthcare provisions with European standards.

Ukraine 4 December 2020