News on the protection of sentenced persons
Working group meeting on a Rulebook on disciplinary measures against sentenced persons
The working group (WG) meeting on drafting the Rulebook on the manner of proceedings of the disciplinary commission in charge of imposing disciplinary measures against sentenced persons took place on 23-24 September 2019 in Skopje. The WG session resulted in a first draft of the Rulebook in...
First Horizontal Facility project launched in Skopje
The Project ‘’Strengthening the protection of the rights of sentenced persons’’, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe as part of the "Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey" and implemented by the Council of Europe, was successfully launched on 29 June 2016 in...
Round Table for presentation of the report from the Assessment mission on the provision of healthcare in the prisons in North Macedonia
The Assessment report on the provision of healthcare in the prisons in North Macedonia was presented and discussed at a multilateral round table that took place on 16 April 2019 in Skopje. It gathered representatives of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions (DES) at the Ministry of...
Training for prison governors and high-level prison management on radicalisation in prisons in North Macedonia
Prison governors and high-level prison management increased their awareness and knowledge on addressing radicalisation in prisons through a 3-day training, which took place in Gevgelija on 18-20 February 2019. The training provided a forum for reviewing the phenomenon of radicalisation in prisons...
Piloting of the screening and risk and needs assessment (RNA) tools for radicalized prisoners
Prison staff working in the area of rehabilitation benefited from the ‘on-the-job’ coaching during the piloting of the application of the newly developed screening and RNA tools for radicalised inmates. The tools were piloted in the two biggest penitentiary institutions in the country, namely in...
Relevant national actors discuss post-penal assistance to radicalised persons
The 2-day Round Table provided a venue for all relevant stakeholders to exchange ideas aiming toward improving the preparation for release of radicalised inmates and increasing the inter-agency cooperation with regards to provision of post-penal assistance to this category of persons. The...
Training of trainers for selected prison staff on inter-prisoner violence
A total of 10 prison staff members, representatives of the Directorate for Execution of Sanctions within the Ministry of Justice and prison staff from various penitentiary institutions country-wide working in the area of security and re-socialization of sentenced persons increased their knowledge...
REGIONAL CONFERENCE on sharing experiences on deradicalisation, management
The Regional Conference gathered prison authorities and prison practitioners from the Western Balkans, who agreed on the need to further enhance collaboration among the prison systems in the region. The conference initiated an exchange of good practices on addressing the issue of radicalisation...
Visitor’s room for the children of imprisoned parents officially opened in prison Stip
The visitors’ room for the children of imprisoned parents was officially opened in prison Stip on 21 September 2018 as the first of its kind in the country, in line with the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation CM/Rec (2018)5 concerning children with imprisoned parents. The...
1st Working group meeting on radicalisation in the national penitentiary system held in Skopje
In view of addressing radicalisation in prisons in the country, and in light of the findings from the assessment mission carried out earlier in 2018, a working group (WG) composed of ten representatives from the Directorate for Execution of Sanctions (DES) at the Ministry of Justice and prison...
Representatives from the national penitentiary system in Skopje benefited from a study visit
A 3-day study visit to the Prison Service of Northern Ireland was organized from 05 to 07 June 2018 for a group of 7 senior prison officials from the Directorate for Execution of Sanctions within the Ministry of Justice, including the Director, as well as prison governors and deputy governors...
260 prison staff members trained on the new Code of Conduct
A total of 260 prison staff from various penitentiary institutions throughout the country were familiarised with the new Code of Conduct for prison staff through participation at ten 1-day cascade training sessions organised in the course of April and May 2018. The main principles, guidelines and...
First working group meeting aimed at developing a Training programme on violent offenders
The issue of violent offenders within the national correctional system and how to identify their treatment needs was discussed in a 2-day working group (WG) meeting on 18-19 September 2017 in Skopje. The WG experts elaborated on the content, methods, structure and duration of the programme, the...
Introduction of the concept of dynamic security in the national penitentiary system
The Directorate for Execution of Sanctions (DES) and selected prison staff were actively involved in the development of a Training Manual for prison staff and Policy paper on the introduction of the concept of dynamic security in the prisons across the country, aiming to further enhance existing...
Training on prison management for prison governors and deputy governors
The Directorate for Execution of Sanctions and prison managerial structures from the national penitentiary system of “the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” benefited from a 4-day training on prison management, which took place on 24-27 January 2018 in Bitola. The training session focused on...
Presentation of two Horizontal Facility Actions on Prisons and Police
Two Horizontal Facility Actions, “Strengthening the protection of the rights of sentenced persons” and “Enhancing Human Rights Policing”, were presented to approximately 30 representatives of the NGO sector in the country. The presentation took place on 21 September 2017 at the EU Info Centre in...
Prison staff trained on the Module for the treatment of violent offenders
A total of 170 prison staff benefitted from eight 1-day cascade training sessions on treatment of violent offenders in prisons, organised in the period 15-22 February 2018 in the Training Center Idrizovo, Strumica and in Bitola. The cascade sessions further built the capacities of prison staff...
90 prison staff trained on dynamic security in prisons in “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”
A total of 90 prison staff members from various penitentiary institutions country-wide increased their knowledge on dynamic security in prisons through participation at three 2-day cascade training sessions organised in the course of April 2018 in Stip, Bitola and Skopje. The cascade sessions...
Round Table to present and discuss the Report on radicalisation in the national penitentiary system
The phenomenon of radicalisation in prisons emerged as an important issue that needs to be addressed in the national penitentiary systems across Europe. The fact that prisons may be used as a breeding ground for radicalised violent extremists and that radicalised offenders scheduled for release...
Piloting of the Specific Treatment Programmes for vulnerable groups of offenders in prison Idrizovo and prison Shtip
Three specific treatment programmes (modules) for vulnerable categories of sentenced persons have been developed under the scope of the Action “Strengthening the protection of the rights of sentenced persons”. These offender behavior programmes, aiming at enhancing prisoners’ rehabilitation and...