The penal system is in need of reform
In August 2006, the Government approved the State Programme for Improving Conditions for Convicts and Persons in Custody for 2006–2010 (hereinafter referred to as the Programme). Its main goal, among others, is to bring the conditions of detention for convicts and persons in custody into compliance with legislative requirements and European norms and standards. In addition, the Programme is intended to ensure the unconditional observance of human and civil rights in places of detention, as well as the stable functioning of bodies, institutions for the execution of sentences, pre-trial detention centres, enterprises, healthcare institutions, and educational establishments of the State Penal Service.
The Board of the Accounting Chamber, chaired by Valentyn Symonenko, concluded, following an audit of the Programme’s implementation status, that due to the ineffective management of the State Department for the Execution of Sentences during 2006–2008, only one-tenth of the tasks envisaged for this period had been completed.
As established by specialists of the Accounting Chamber, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine did not ensure their own interaction regarding the control and reporting on the implementation of the programme, formally summarising the information provided by the Department for the Execution of Sentences without analysing the actual state of implementation of its measures.
The issue of bringing the regulatory framework for the activities of the penal service, in particular the penal inspection, into line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950), the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Prison Rules, remained outside the attention of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. At the same time, regional state administrations practically withdrew from implementing the measures. As a result, the conditions of detention for convicts and persons in custody have not significantly improved.
It has been established that convicts are not provided with living space according to existing standards. In no institution or pre-trial detention centre do the conditions of detention for convicts and persons in custody meet the requirements of legislation and the European norms and standards ratified by Ukraine.
Due to non-compliance with construction legislation, the pre-trial detention centre building and two floors of the women's ward at the Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Centre were not built within the time frame specified by the programme, and the cost of the project nearly doubled.
In places of detention, unconditional observance of human and civil rights is not ensured; the majority of bodies for the execution of sentences, healthcare institutions, and educational establishments of the State Penal Service function in conditions unsuitable for their work.
The Board of the Accounting Chamber concluded that there is an urgent need to reform the penal system. This includes improving current legislation in the sphere of sentence execution and expanding the list of alternative forms of punishment not related to deprivation of liberty. This would ensure a reduction in the number of convicts and detainees in correctional institutions and, as a consequence, a decrease in the financial burden on the state budget and an increase in the efficiency of the use of budget funds for the maintenance of convicts.
Press Service of the Accounting Chamber