With more and more countries moving from a punitive criminal justice system towards a reintegrative and restorative model, which focuses on repairing the harm done by crime and ensuring the successful reintegration of offenders, the use of non-custodial measures in pre- and post-sentencing has steadily increased. As such, the role of agencies responsible for monitoring offender compliance during community correction is now more important than ever and governments seek best practices in this field. This was shown by the high interest expressed towards the Side Event on “Application of Non-custodial Punishment: Experience of Probation Institutes in Kyrgyzstan and Other Countries”, which was conducted in the margins of the 32nd Commission of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) at UNODC Headquarters in Vienna on 23 May 2023.
The side event was particularly unique as it brought together the experience of probation institutions from the Kyrgyz Republic, which established its Probation Department under the Ministry of Justice in 2019, Kenya’s Probation and Aftercare Service (PACS), which commenced in 1946, and the Confederation of European Probation (CEP), whose members have a rich history, in some cases dating back to 1886. The discussion during the side event focused on establishing a contemporary probation service with an appropriate recruitment strategy and training program for probation staff to provide effective reintegration support.
During her opening remarks, Ms. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia highlighted the role probation institutions play in promoting a rehabilitative environment in the community. She noted the upcoming UNODC Handbook on Probation, which will provide guidance on the establishment and sound operation of probation services based on successful experiences with individualized, cost-effective, gender-responsive and diversified offender management across the globe.
Gender-responsive approaches in probation were also discussed. Mr. Clement Okech, PACS Deputy, mentioned that while “the criminal justice law in Kenya is gender neutral, the probation institution must be aware of issues that women clients face and provide services in line with the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules).” Ms. Jana Spero, Secretary General of CEP, echoed this sentiment and highlighted the importance of including this issue in the basic training curriculum for probation staff. She stressed that offender risk and needs assessment tools should include gender-sensitive indicators, based on which probation reports are developed and reintegration activities selected.
The Kyrgyz Republic has successfully reduced its prison population from 18,000 to 7,000 in recent years and thus hosted the side event to share this success story. Since its establishment in 2019, the Probation Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic has served more than 60,000 clients under all types of probation supervision. According to Mr. Almazbek Zarylbek Uulu, Deputy Minister of Justice, “As we continue to strive towards improved reintegration, the side event helped us collect additional information on consistent management and delivery of sentence plans, better assessment and management of risk and more balanced caseloads and an improved case allocation process to support this”.
The side-event was conducted as part of a knowledge exchange visit to Austria within the framework of the project to “Support to Justice Sector Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic: Advancing Probation and Criminal Justice Information Management” (JUST4ALL). JUST4ALL is a four-year 8,800,000 Euro project co-funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented by UNODC in partnership with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights. The partnership between the EU, UNODC and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic under the JUST4ALL framework illustrates the collective commitment to ensure an effective, fair and humane criminal justice system for the entire population by strengthening criminal justice information management and the probation process.
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For more information, contact Vasilina Brazhko
Communications and PR Specialist at
UNODC Criminal Justice Programme in Central Asia
UNODC PO in the Kyrgyz Republic
+996775987817 WhatsApp
vasilina.brazhko [at] un.org
