The Human Rights National Implementation Division has developed a new useful instrument - an Assessment Tool on Pre-trial Detention which elaborates in detail the methodology for reviewing pretrial detention practice within a given country.

The document offers a step by step methodology on the use of statistical and thematic analysis to assess the application of pre-trial detention and uncover problems connected to its use, which in turn will help to identify the best solutions. The development of the tool is the first-of-its-kind attempt to provide a systematic approach to collection and analysis of available data to achieve an objective picture of the use of pre-trial detention.

The methodology constitutes one of the key deliverables under the European Union – Council of Europe joint project “Application of the European Convention on Human Rights and harmonisation of national legislation and judicial practice in Georgia in line with European standards”, implemented under the EU-CoE Programmatic Cooperation Framework.

The tool was for the first time presented in Tbilisi (Georgia) in January 2017. The Georgian authorities expressed their willingness and interest to implement it in the country.

Given that the newly developed methodology is a universal tool, it can be adapted for the use in jurisdictions of other member states. The Council of Europe stands ready to support national authorities to adapt this unified methodology, which in the long run will result in harmonisation of the use of detention with the European concept of detention in the member states.