The Working Group representatives tasked to develop a unified Manual containing all rehabilitation programmes to be used within the prison system of Montenegro held its first meeting in Kolasin. They were assisted online by Council of Europe consultants.

As a result of the meeting, the Working Group members adopted an outline of the Manual and decided the follow-up planning for the next 20 weeks. During this period, the treatment department practitioners will test the programmes and evaluate their impact on prisoners. All programmes will be based on the cognitive behavioural therapy, with best practices and the current context of Montenegrin prison system taken into consideration.

Once the programmes are tested and adopted, they will represent the official rehabilitation programme Manual of the Administration for Execution of Criminal Sanctions of Montenegro.

The Working Group meeting took place on 30-31 October within the action “Further enhancing human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Montenegro”, as a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme „Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022“, implemented by the Council of Europe.