The first Steering Committee meeting of a 48-month joint European Union/Council of Europe action on “Enhancing human rights protection for detained and sentenced person” took place on 10 March 2023. The meeting also marked the launch of the third phase of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” action in Montenegro.

The action builds on the results of previous two phases and will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Interior/Police Administration, Administration for Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Ministry of Justice, Ombudsman/National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), State Prosecutor’s Office, and Ministry of Health as well as other national stakeholders, including prominent civil society organisations active on the protection and promotion of human rights of detained persons.

The action is focusing on improving the treatment of persons detained in police custody in line with the European standards against ill-treatment and impunity and on enhancing health care services for detained persons in prisons. Furthermore, it will focus on better monitoring of detention facilities through enhanced capacity of the NPM Office.

All local stakeholders expressed their full support to the action and highlighted the importance of European Union and Council of Europe support to the criminal justice reforms. Both the activity plan and the expected main outcomes of the action were presented and agreed.

The action will last until 31 December 2026, as a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, implemented by the Council of Europe.