SPPRH - Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova
The Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” (“SPPRH Project”) with the duration of 36 months (March 2021 – February 2024) is funded through and is in line with the strategic priorities for co-operation as formulated in the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova for 2021-2024.
The Project builds on the achievements of the previous Council of Europe Action Plans for the Republic of Moldova, notably, results of the projects implemented between 2015 and 2020, namely, the Programme “Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” (01 March 2018 – 28 February 2021) and the Project “Support of the Criminal Justice Reforms in the Republic of Moldova” (2015 – 2018). The Project is also focused on further consolidating the achievements of the Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisers to Moldova (NORLAM) activities in country completed in June 2017.
The Project is aimed at supporting the enhancement of the prison management practices, the improvement of the quality of the provision of health care to inmates (including mental health care), supporting the probation in raising its profile, promoting the value of community sanctions and measures among all actors of the criminal justice system and strengthening of treatment programmes and protocols for patients in psychiatric establishments (including forensic patients).
Main intervention areas will cover policy/legal framework, institutional and practical implementation levels, and the expected results of this Project are the following:
- Management of prisons is further improved to better support the prisoners’ rehabilitation: integrating modern prison management methodologies and tools, and further increasing the prison staff skills and knowledge on human rights of persons deprived of liberty;
- Quality of the provision and organisation of health care services (including mental health care) for inmates are further enhanced in line with European standards: developing specialized tools, policies and improving the material medical conditions in prisons;
- Strengthened institutional capacity of Probation Service and multidisciplinary co-operation with other actors through more effective implementation of community sanctions and measures in support of offenders’ social reintegration: strengthening the capacities of Probation to treat medium and high-risk offenders and fine-tuning the inter-institutional cooperation;
- Strengthened treatment of patients in psychiatric establishments (including forensic patients) in line with European standards: enhancing the treatment programmes and protocols and improving the knowledge and skills of staff in applying them within multidisciplinary teams.
Project documentation
- Work plan (July - September 2024)
- Work plan (April - June 2024)
- Work plan (January - March 2024)
- Work plan (October - December 2023)
- Work plan (July - September 2023)
- Work plan (April - June 2023)
- Work plan (January - March 2023)
- Work plan (October - December 2022)
- Work plan (July - September 2022)
- Work plan (April - June 2022)
- Work plan (January - March 2022)
- Work plan (October - December 2021)
- Work plan (July - September 2021)
- Work plan (April - June 2021)
- Leaflet
Useful information
- Chisinau office Website
- Media corner
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe expresses support to Moldovan authorities in strengthening healthcare in prisons
The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Bjørn Berge visited the Republic of Moldova. During the two-day visit, he and the Minister of Justice, Veronica Mihailov-Moraru hosted a handover ceremony of important medical equipment to cover the outstanding prison healthcare needs and thus...
Council of Europe’s continued assistance to prison and probation reform, health care improvement in Moldova's closed institutions – 6th Steering Committee meeting
29 February 2024, Chisinau – The sixth Steering Committee meeting of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” was held in Chisinau. With the...
New programme for reducing violent behaviour of probationers in the Republic of Moldova
14 representatives from the National Probation Inspectorate (NPI) and 10 territorial Probation Offices of the Republic of Moldova participated in the final Working Group meeting in Chisinau on 27-28 November 2023, to agree on the final structure and content of a new probation programme focused on...
Study visit of Moldovan delegation to Prison Service and Probation and Mediation Service of the Czech Republic
16 representatives of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) and the National Probation Inspectorate (NPI) of the Republic of Moldova learned best practices from their peers from the Czech Prison and Probation and Mediation Services during a study...
Republic of Moldova: New Individual Sentence Planning tools for the prison system
32 representatives from 7 prisons and the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) of the Republic of Moldova participated in the Evaluation Workshop and a consolidation session that took place in Chisinau on 30-31 October 2023, to assess the results of piloting Individual Sentence...
New General Cognitive Behavioural Treatment Programme and Specialised Module for treatment of prisoners serving long-term sentences in Moldova
20 representatives from 6 prisons and the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) of the Republic of Moldova participated in the Evaluation Workshop on piloting the General Cognitive Behavioural Treatment (CBT) Programme in selected prisons. The Workshop took place in Chisinau on 26 June...
Republic of Moldova: new initial training programme for probation counsellors launched in pilot session
23 newly recruited probation counsellors from 16 Territorial Probation Offices of the Republic of Moldova enhanced knowledge and understanding of their duties in a 4-day initial training session delivered as a pilot by a team of trainers from the National Probation Inspectorate (NPI). The pilot...
Council of Europe supports prison and probation reform and improvement of health care in closed institutions in Moldova – 5th Steering Committee meeting
23 June 2023 – The fifth Steering Committee meeting of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” was held online. Representatives of the Ministries of...
A new Policy and Standard Operating Procedures on combating the spread of the phenomenon of criminal subculture in the Detention Centre for Minors and Young People in the Republic of Moldova
A group of 19 specialists from 5 prisons of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) strengthened their knowledge and skills in giving effect to new approaches and measures on combating the spread of the phenomenon of criminal subculture in the Detention Centre for Minors and Young...
The Governors of the Prison System of the Republic of Moldova Enhanced their Skills in Leadership and Management
The governors of all prison institutions of the Republic of Moldova and representatives of the National Administration of Penitentiaries enhanced their knowledge and skills in Leadership and Management over a 3-day training session held in Chisinau, on 20-22 March 2023. The Minister of Justice of...
Individual Sentence Planning Guidelines developed for the prison system of the Republic of Moldova
The National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) of the Republic of Moldova was provided with Guidelines and tools for devising individual sentence plans (ISP), aiming to ensure a better rehabilitation and reintegration into society of prisoners by means of tailored interventions and support....
Prison staff of the Republic of Moldova trained to implement a new Policy and Standard Operating Procedures on dynamic security
23 specialists from all 17 prisons and the representatives of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) were trained on transposing the set of principles and sequence of steps necessary to enable the implementation of a dynamic security approach to prison management, for ensuring a...
The National Probation Inspectorate of the Republic of Moldova ready to deliver the new Induction Training Programme for the probation counsellors
A team of 12 probation counsellors from the National Probation Inspectorate (NPI) of the Republic of Moldova was trained on 5-8 December 2022 to deliver an Induction Training Curriculum and Programme on probation tasks developed with Council of Europe’s support. During the 4-day Training of...
A delegation from the Ministry of Justice, the National Administration of Penitentiaries and the National Probation Inspectorate made a study visit to the Council of Europe
15 representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the National Administration of Penitentiaries, and the National Probation Inspectorate participated in a study visit to the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg, France on 2-4 November. The study visit allowed the participants to gain...
The Training Centre of the National Administration of Penitentiaries of the Republic of Moldova enhanced its abilities to deliver a new course on working with juveniles and young adults in detention
During a pilot - session, the team of the Training Centre of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP TC) enhanced their knowledge and professional skills in delivering a new course on Working with Juveniles and Young Adults in Detention, designed for the specialists of the prison...
The Training Centre of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) ready to deliver a new course on Prison Management for the senior managers within the prison system of the Republic of Moldova
The team of the Training Centre (TC) of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) strengthened their knowledge and professional skills during a Training of Trainers (ToT) session for the delivery of a new course on Prison Management, designed for the senior prison managers from the...
Council of Europe continuing support to the prison and probation reforms, and the health care in closed institutions in Moldova - third Steering Committee Meeting
21 June 2022, Chisinau – The third Steering Committee meeting of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” was held in Chisinau. Attended by members and...
A pool of trainers on Motivational Interviewing techniques created within the prison system of the Republic of Moldova
15 specialists from the prison system gained professional skills in delivering training to peers on Motivational Interviewing. The Training of Trainers (ToT) was a consolidation exercise following the piloting of a Risk and Needs Assessment tool (RNA) in prisons, for a more accurate and...
Workshop on the results of piloting the draft Risks and Needs Assessment tool for prisoners and offenders in the community
The results of the piloting the draft Risks and Needs Assessment (RNA) tool for prisoners and offenders in the community were presented during a final evaluation workshop. All probation offices and prisons who tested the draft RNA tool in their daily work during a six-months period expressed...
Second Meeting of the Working Group for the development of Policies and Standard Operational Procedures for the prison system of the Republic of Moldova
The second meeting of the working group (WG) for the development of policies and standard operational procedures (SOPs) focused on four thematic areas - dynamic security, treatment of vulnerable groups of detainees, preventing and combating inter-prisoner violence (for prison frontline staff),...
Council of Europe project, continuing to support the reforms in the criminal justice sector in Moldova- second Steering Committee Meeting
3 December 2021, Chișinău – The second Steering Committee meeting of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” was held online, following almost 9 months...