Chernihiv Pre-trial Detention Centre
The Chernihiv Pre-trial Detention Centre is one of the oldest penitentiary institutions in Ukraine. It is situated in the historic part of the city of Chernihiv and is part of the structure of the State Criminal-Executive Service of Ukraine, fulfilling the functions of a pre-trial detention centre in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Pre-trial Detention”.
The history of the institution begins in the early 19th century. Following the administrative reform of 1802 and the creation of the Chernihiv Governorate, the local penitentiary system began to be reformed.
On the instructions of Emperor Alexander I, standard designs for prison castles were developed for provincial cities, and a large-scale construction project for a new stone prison was launched in Chernihiv. By 1806, the construction of a stone wall and the main buildings of the prison castle had been completed, making it one of the first specifically designed penitentiary complexes on the territory of modern-day Ukraine.
Throughout the 19th century, the complex was repeatedly expanded and reconstructed. By the end of the century, it consisted of a main high-security building, utility rooms, towers, a bathhouse, workshops, and other auxiliary structures; at the beginning of the 20th century, a third floor was added to the main building.
Over more than two centuries of its existence, the institution has changed its name and functional purpose several times. It has acted as a provincial prison, a house of forced labour, a regional house of social-forced labour, a prison, and a correctional facility, and has functioned as a pre-trial detention centre since the end of the 20th century. A separate, tragic chapter in the institution’s history is the period of the Nazi occupation of Chernihiv from 1941 to 1943. During this time, the occupation authorities held thousands of civilians, members of the resistance movement, and prisoners of war on the prison premises. According to archival data, a significant number of people were tortured and executed, rendering the institution a place of memory concerning the crimes of the Nazi regime in the Chernihiv region.
Today, the Chernihiv Pre-trial Detention Centre provides for the detention of persons for whom a preventive measure in the form of custody has been applied, as well as specific categories of convicted persons in accordance with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation. The institution plays an important role in ensuring the administration of criminal justice in the Chernihiv region.
The Chernihiv Pre-trial Detention Centre is regularly visited by representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and international and Ukrainian human rights organisations. During monitoring visits, evaluations are made of the conditions of detention for those in custody, the provision of the right to medical care, access to legal aid, material and living conditions, disciplinary practices, the exercise of the right to work for convicts retained for maintenance purposes, and other aspects of human rights compliance.
Following the monitoring visits of recent years, the institution has received recommendations regarding the improvement of material and living conditions, medical provision, the ensuring of proper privacy, the refinement of disciplinary practices, the accessibility of medical aid, and the alignment of the institution’s activities with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Pre-trial Detention”, the Criminal-Executive Code of Ukraine, the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), and other international standards in the field of human rights protection.
Contact information: State Institution “Chernihiv Pre-trial Detention Centre”. Address: 14000, Chernihiv region, Chernihiv, Remisnycha St., 2
Head: Pochepnia Yevhen Mykolaiovych
Telephone: (0462) 67-82-85
Email: [email protected], [email protected]