The Ministry of Justice held a coordination meeting on the reform of the penitentiary system of Ukraine

A coordination meeting on reforming the penitentiary system of Ukraine was held in the Ministry of Justice, with the participation of Deputy Minister of Justice Denys Chernyshov and international partners.

The participants of the event discussed the actual issues of the reform of the penitentiary system and identified key priorities in the planning of further actions.

According to Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Chernyshov, the reform of the penitentiary system is one of the priority for the Ministry of Justice.

"Penitentiary system - a country within the country with inherent, as for the state, problems and tasks, therefore we are conducting a series of reforms concerning the criminal-executive service. In this process, all segments are involved - from health and nutrition to education and psychology," - said Denys Chernyshov.

The Deputy Minister also thanked the international partners for the fruitful cooperation and support of the Ministry of Justice on the way of reforming the penitentiary system.

Team leader of EU Project "Pravo-Justice" Dovydas Vitkauskas mentioned that European Union countries, just like Ukraine, are in search of a delicate balance between the considerations of crime prevention and community safety on the one hand, and rehabilitation and resocialisation on the other.

"Pravo-Justice is helping share best practices in the search for this balance in Ukraine, by putting emphasis on the promotion of probation and alternative sanctioning, as a way of also improving the situation in the prisons", - said Dovydas Vitkauskas.