Project to adjust penal system management to European standards to be launched

A twinning project to adjust the penal system management to European standards will start in Moldova in January next year. The 920,000-euro project funded by the EU aims to decrease the number of persons held in prisons, Info-Prim Neo reports. The project will be implemented by the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation and is designed to improve cooperation between the judicial authorities and the local penitentiary system and to provide assistance to Moldova’s Ministry of Justice in creating an efficient and coherent statutory framework of criminal measures and individualized treatment, with emphasis on the observance of the human rights. “We intend to contribute to a better reformation of the penitentiary system in Moldova. We need broader cooperation with the judges, prosecutor’s office, courts of law, civil bodies and public authorities,” project leader Peter Best said in a news conference on Friday. He stressed that one of the objectives is to change the mentality of the judicial and penitentiary authorities. Deputy Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim said the penitentiary system in Moldova needs to be changed and adapted to the European standards, stressing that the Moldovan authorities stepped up cooperation on this segment with the European countries. The project has three components: the penal reform, the management of human resources and probation. Efforts will be made to continuously develop the capacities of the penitentiary institutions, said Ana Racu, the head of the Public Relations Division of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions. “We hope the EU’s support will help appropriately reform the national penitentiary system so that it becomes really modern, where the human rights are not only stated, but also respected,” Ana Racu said.