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 Recommendations for improvement of penitentiary inspections presented to the Ukrainian authorities

@ Council of Europe

Practical recommendations to improve the effectiveness of internal penitentiary inspections in Ukraine were presented to the Ministry of Justice at a working group meeting held on 2 July 2021. Central to these recommendations is the aim to make results of penitentiary inspections meaningful and a good basis for the initiation of follow-up decisions by the Ministry of Justice. They were developed thanks to expert analysis of current methods and other relevant regulatory documents as well as close cooperation with the national authorities.

Ms Olena Vysotska, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, thanked the Council of Europe and the European Union for their valuable support and stated the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to implementing the recommendations in future activities.

The working group meeting was organised by the European Union 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 through a better alignment of prison healthcare provisions with European standards.

See News by the Ministry of Justice

Ukraine 29 July 2021