From 05th to 07th November 2019, representatives of the Ministries of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Federation BiH and Republika Srpska as well as prison managers from the Federation BiH and Republika Srpska participated in a study visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (UK) and met senior officials and practitioners from the prison, probation and police services.

The delegation visited the Northern Ireland Prison Service, Maghaberry Prison, Northern Ireland Football Association, Training Center for prison staff at the Hydebank Wood College & Women’s Prison, Probation Board of Northern Ireland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The delegation exchanged experiences and gained knowledge on legal and institutional framework of the UK prison, probation and police systems with a view to improving the existing BiH legislative and institutional capacities to address more effectively the challenges related to treatment of violent and extremist prisoners in BiH penitentiary system, as well as strengthening the multi-agency cooperation.

The study visit was organised as part of the Project “Structured Sentence Management for Violent and Extremist Prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, funded by the voluntary contribution of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and implemented by the Council of Europe.