Does Ukrainian legislation on the use of video surveillance systems in penitentiary institutions comply with international standards related to human rights? A relevant study was prepared and presented by a team of national and international consultants from the Council of Europe on 11 December 2024.

The event was organised in the framework of cooperation between The State Department for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Council of Europe Project "Towards more humane conditions of detention and reduction of reoffending in Ukraine" (DECOPRIS).

Yevhenii Ivashev, national consultant of the DECOPRIS Project, presented the Ukrainian legal framework for the use of video surveillance systems in penitentiary institutions and pre-trial detention centres. In particular, the list of national legislation that formed the basis for the analysis included relevant articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, decisions of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts of Ukraine, the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine "On the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine", the Law of Ukraine "On Pre-trial Detention", and other legal documents regulating the functioning of the penitentiary system in terms of the use of video surveillance systems.

Erik Svanidze, international expert of the Council of Europe, presented an analysis of certain Ukrainian legislation and regulations for their compliance with international standards, among which the key ones were European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) STANDARDS, European Prison Rules (EPR), and European Union directives and regulations on personal data protection.

Conclusions and further steps (expert recommendations based on the results of the analysis):

• Amend regulatory acts to ensure their compliance with international standards.
• Developing a transparency policy - introducing clear procedures for informing prisoners and visitors about the use of video surveillance in prisons.
• Developing control and oversight mechanisms - introducing an independent mechanism for overseeing the use of video surveillance systems to ensure transparency and respect for human rights in places of detention.
• Ensuring the protection of personal data - improving procedures for access to video surveillance recordings and ensuring institutional guarantees for the protection of personal data in accordance with international standards.

Based on the results of the presentation, it was agreed that the working group of the The State Department for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions would provide their vision on the feasible steps in addressing the expert’s recommendations, and the DECOPRIS Project would provide expert support to facilitate the development of amendments to the legal acts in cooperation with experts and representatives of the Department.