As part of the joint EU-Council of Europe project “Support to Council of Europe for EU network of prison monitoring bodies” (the European NPM Forum), the newly established Slovak National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) benefited from a study visit to Italy to exchange good practices and strengthen institutional capacities in the field of preventive monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty.
Hosted by the Italian NPM (Garante Nazionale), the visit included in-depth discussions and on-site visits to two detention facilities, offering the Slovak delegation practical exposure to different approaches in the protection of detainees’ rights, with a focus on topics of prison overcrowding, care for vulnerable groups, and healthcare provision. The group also visited the Health Unit at Regina Coeli prison and Rebibbia women’s prison to explore aspects of healthcare in prisons and gender-specific monitoring techniques.
The visit reaffirmed the Slovak NPM’s commitment to preventive monitoring and underscored the value of international cooperation in promoting rights-based detention standards. The experience also highlights the value of peer-to-peer exchanges within the European NPM Forum as an avenue for shared learning.
Italian NPM webpage news:
