Serbia: Improving capacities and capabilities within the prison system in the Republic of Serbia

Details: Published: June 1, 2018

The Twinning project’s kick-off event to improve the penal system in Serbia: H.E. Sem Fabrizi, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia; Nela Kuburović, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia; Catalin Bejan, Resident Twinning Advisor; H.E. Dr. Wolfgang Brandstetter, Vice-Chancellor of Austria; Katharina Tegeder, IRZ

EU Twinning Project

Improving capacities and capabilities within the prison system in the Republic of Serbia
July 2017 - February 2019
IRZ Lead
Budget: 1 Mio. Euro
Responsible at the IRZ: Katharina Tegeder, Bojana Tadic

The IRZ is carrying out this EU Twinning project with the support of the Austrian AED as a junior partner. It is part of the “Strategy for the Improvement of the System of Execution of Criminal Sanctions in the Republic of Serbia until 2020” adopted by the Serbian government on 23 December 2013 and has a total budget of EUR 1 million.

The project aims to provide support in three key areas:

Organisational and institutional support for the “Centre for Training and Vocational Training of Detainees”
Improvement of expertise and competencies of prison staff
Education and training of female inmates of the women’s detention centre in Požarevac

The implementation of the project began on 4 July 2017 with the arrival of the Resident Twinning Advisor at the Centre for Training and Vocational Education of the Administration for Enforcement of Penal Sanctions in Niš and was opened with an official ceremony in September 2017 at the Palata Srbije (Palace of Serbia in Belgrade).

With the first activities in 2017, we have been able to build a solid foundation for the successful implementation of future missions, as some of the important and binding results have already been achieved:

Analysis of the legal situation with recommendations on improving the organisational and technical capacities for the “Centre for Training and Vocational Education of the Administration for Enforcement of Penal Sanctions”
Analysis of training needs for employees in the penitentiary system
Analysis of the current status of the probation assistance system in Serbia with recommendations on the most effective post-release modalities
Organisation and implementation of a study visit to Austria for the staff of the Serbian Ministry of Justice

The beneficiary of the project is the Serbian Ministry of Justice (Directorate for Enforcement in the Penitentiary System), the client is the Central Office for Financing and Contracting at the Serbian Ministry of Finance (CFCU).