Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Persons in Detention in Armenia

Building upon the results achieved from the implementation of the Project “Enhancing healthcare and human rights protection in prisons in Armenia”, the Project “Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Persons in Detention” financed by Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023 – 2026 assists the Armenian authorities to further enhance penitentiary reform and prison health care, and the protection of the human rights of persons deprived of liberty. The Council of Europe is providing support at policy and operational levels assisting authorities to accomplish penitentiary reform goals and trigger changes in practices throughout the prison system especially after the adoption of the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedural Code as well as Penitentiary Code in June 2022.
The Project is implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Prison Medicine Centre, as well as other stakeholders including the civil society organisations.
The Project focuses on following priority areas:

Further enhancing the institutional capacity of the Prison Medicine Centre in order to provide quality health care in the penitentiary system;
Further consolidating the knowledge and skills of medical and non-medical staff on different topics on provision of health care;
Strengthening the capacities of prison staff to apply tools and rehabilitation programmes for persons deprived of liberty;
Harmonizing the regulatory framework on human rights with the new Penitentiary Code.

The key Conventions for this Project are the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), as well as the findings and the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The duration of the Project was set at 24 months, and it was completed on 31 December 2024, with an overall budget of 550 000 Euros.

Project documentation

Useful information

project news

Back Advancing restraint measures alternative to detention in Armenia

The new Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia extends the catalogue of restraint measures by introducing administrative control and house arrest, the latter being closest to detention in terms of restriction of the rights and freedoms. To ensure the proper implementation of the new provisions of the Code the Council of Europe supports criminal justice actors in introducing new practices by strengthening their professional skills and changing their mind-set as duty-bearers towards the other participants of criminal proceedings based on the new legislation.

More specifically, on 19-20 June the Council of Europe Projects “Strengthening the Probation Service in Armenia” and “Support to the Effective Execution of the Judgements of the European Court of Human Rights in Armenia” jointly organised a discussion on the practical Guides that were prepared for the national legal professionals, including from probation services, which address various issues that hinder the effective application of certain restraint measures alternative to detention.

Prior to the preparation of the Guides, information on the concerns raised by the Court of Cassation, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Probation Service was collected in view of designing possible solutions as regards the application of house arrest, administrative control, bail and prohibition to leave the country. The workshop addressed issues of the national legislation related to the application of alternative restraint measures, challenges encountered when using these measures, and practical issues of implementing house arrest and administrative supervision at the national level in the light of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and European best practices. The discussions also focused on future steps to promote the use of alternative measures of restraint and the need for closer cooperation between probation services and other key players in the criminal justice system of Armenia.

"Support to the effective execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Armenia" project funded by Human Rights Trust Fund and along with “Strengthening the Probation Service in Armenia” project are implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia for 2023-2026.

Armenia 21 June 2024