A Round Table “Criminal Justice Responses to Prison Overcrowding in Moldova” took place on 22 April 2016, at the Radisson Blu Leogrand Hotel in Chisinau (Moldova).

The Round Table brought together representatives of the Ministry of Justice, penitentiary service, People Ombudsman and other officials, as well as civil society and international organizations acting in Moldova for presenting and discussing results of the study on preventing / combating prison overcrowding in Moldova and other three countries of Eastern Partnership (Georgia, Ukraine and Armenia). The country-specific problems defined by the study were highlighted, followed by very topical and open discussions. The participants were encouraged to define the ways of cooperation in solving problems highlighted by the study.

The Round Table is a follow-up activity of the Regional Conference “Criminal Justice Responses to Prison Overcrowding in Eastern Partnership Countries”, which took place on 18 February 2016, in Tbilisi (Georgia) and gathered high level authorities of the Ministries of Justice of Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine and Ministry of Corrections of Georgia and civil society representatives.

This Round Table is part of larger programme on “Promoting penitentiary reforms (from a punitive to a rehabilitative approach)” which is implemented within the framework of the European Commission and Council of Europe Programmatic Cooperation Framework for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.