SPERU - Further Support to the Penitentiary Reform in Ukraine

This project was co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the main partners, namely the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the State Executive Service and its interregional branches, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the General Prosecutor Office, the Ombudsmen Office and Civil Society organisations and other relevant national stakeholders interested in penitentiary reform in Ukraine.

Thanks to this project, Ukrainian authorities have been assisted in the promotion of Human rights in the management of prisons as well as in the further development of a rehabilitative approach to offenders in line with the Council of Europe standards, in particular those of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture an Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), and taking into account the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Joint Programme (JP) SPERU achieved the following outcomes:

enhancement of Justice system actors’ awareness to proceed with the penitentiary reform based on the Council of Europe standards
partnerships between the justice system, community services and civil society are facilitated to enhance resocialization and reintegration of prisoners
justice system capacity is enhanced to develop and implement healthcare strategy in prisons

Further support to the reforms in the field of prison and the protection of prisoners’ rights is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021.

The project implementation started in July 2019 and ended bewteen October 2021 and April 2022.

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Ukraine: New training course on multidisciplinary skills for the frontline prison staff

@ Council of Europe

On 28 April 2021, a new training course on multidisciplinary skills for the frontline prison staff was presented to the Ukrainian prison governors. The course consists of four modules addressing all thematic areas of SPERU intervention: (a) suicide awareness, (b) mental health awareness, (c) drug overdose/substance abuse/alcohol addiction, (d) HIV/AIDs and sexually transmitted disease. In addition to the presentation of the training, the aim of this online event was to seek feedback from the national counterparts and to communicate further steps SPERU envisages to promote the development of multidisciplinary skills.

Representatives of the Ministry of Justice, State Department for Execution of the Criminal Sanctions, Prison Healthcare Centre, Strategic and European Integration Directorate, 85 heads of prison establishments and pre-trial detention centres, as well as the ICRC, the EU and the CoE Secretariat, participated in this meeting.

Based on the outcome of the presentation and feedback from the national partners, the training course will be finalized and submitted to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine for its swift adoption and implementation.

The Council of Europe continues supporting the Ukrainian prison system by improving its legislative, regulatory framework and the capacity of prison staff. In this context, the EU and CoE Joint Project "Support to Prison Reform in Ukraine - SPERU" plays a major role. SPERU is designed to promote human rights compliant management of prisons in Ukraine, including better alignment of prison healthcare provisions with European standards.

Ukraine 30 April 2021