On 5-6 February 2015, the Council of Europe (CoE) project team and local trainers will meet to evaluate the results of the 6-month training programme for prison regime staff and discuss next steps and possible further ways of improvement.

This unprecedented programme, developed with the help of a co-author of the “European Prison Rules” ended on 29 January 2015. 24 newly recruited prison regime staff attended theoretical and practical phases of the 6-month training at the Penitentiary and Probation Training Centre (PPTC) and in different prisons. The programme was also unique in a way that for the first time, it involved mentors- experienced prison regime staff, who shared their knowledge and skills with their new colleagues.

During the two day workshop, managers of the PPTC and trainers will assess the whole course phase by phase, upgrade its curriculum and adjust its methodology to ensure high quality and success of the forthcoming courses. The next course is to start in March 2015.  

The long-term training and the workshop are both organized in the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Programme “Human Rights in Prisons and Other Closed Institutions”. The programme was launched in July 2013 and it aims to strengthen respect of human rights in places of detention and improving access to healthcare for persons deprived of their liberty.