The main partners and beneficiaries of the Programme are the Ministry of Justice; the Parliament; the Supreme Council of Magistracy; the Supreme Court of Justice; the Public Prosecution Service; the Superior Council of Prosecutors; the Office of the People’s Advocate/National Council for the Prevention of Torture; the National Institute of Justice; the Department of Penitentiary Institutions; the National Probation Inspectorate; the Ministry of Interior; the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection Moldova and the Lawyers' Union of the Republic of Moldova.

The Programme is implemented jointly by the two entities of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law: Human Rights National Implementation Division and the Criminal Co-operation Unit and is in line with the strategic priorities for cooperation as formulated in the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova for 2017-2020, funded by the Norwegian government.

The Programme corresponds to the strategic relevant objectives defined by the Moldovan Government in the prolonged Justice Sector Reform Strategy 2011-2016 (JSRS) and its Action Plan, the Prison System Development Strategy 2016-2020 and the Strategy of Developing the Probation System 2016 – 2020 and their Action Plans.

The main aim is to ensure a higher respect for human rights and the rule of law by assisting the national authorities in building up an efficiently functioning criminal justice system, in line with European human rights standards, and based on the principles of humanisation, resocialisation and restorative justice.

Main intervention areas will cover policy/legal framework, institutional and practical implementation levels, with the focus on:

• Consolidation of criminal justice policy, legislation and judiciary practice in line with international standards with respect to the liberalization of criminal proceedings, including strengthening the application of non-custodial pre-trial preventive measures and sanctions, alternative sanctions in criminal cases, improvement of probation services and release on parole mechanisms
• Better treatment and resocialisation of inmates by improving the regulatory and policy framework as well as prison staff capacities relevant to regime arrangements and management of prisons, implementation of treatment programmes and provision of health care services for inmates;
• Support towards the development of the capacities of criminal justice stakeholders in the light of the implementation of the on-going reforms, including judiciary, prosecution service, as well as Ombudsperson’s institution and National Prevention Mechanism (NPM).