On 17 September 2021, an updated Guide on Prisoners' Legal Rights was presented to the Ukrainian national stakeholders (Ministry of Justice, Department for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Centre of Probation of Ukraine, Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the Prosecutor General) and other partners, and other human rights organisations (NORLAU project, International Committee of the Red Cross).

Based on the 2016 Guide on Prisoners' Legal Rights, developed within the previous Council of Europe project, the new Guide provides prisoners (including women and juveniles) with information on their rights and obligations, conditions of early release, national and international mechanisms for the protection of prisoners' rights. The Guide also provides answers to practical questions, such as the remuneration of the work in the penitentiary institution; possibilities of receiving medical care; restrictions on parcels and transfers; the number of visits allowed; use of the Internet and many others.

The Guide aims to systematise information on the most important rights of convicts; create a favourable climate in penitentiary institutions, where both convicts and staff have the same understanding of the rights of convicts. The Guide is useful not only for convicts but also for prison staff, detention monitoring bodies (prosecutor's office, NPM), human rights defenders, scientists and legislators.

The SPERU Project published an e-version of the updated Guide on the website of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and printed 500 copies for its distribution in penitentiary institutions.

This activity is organised within the framework of the EU and Council of Europe Joint Project "Support to Prison Reform in Ukraine - SPERU", which is designed to promote human rights compliant management of prisons, including better alignment of prison healthcare provisions with European standards.