Back Improving forensic psychiatric patients’ treatment in Lezha provisional facility

Shen Koll/Lezha 11 September 2026
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Improving forensic psychiatric patients’ treatment in Lezha provisional facility

Forensic psychiatric patients accommodated in Lezha provisional facility will benefit from enhanced services and support thanks to the assistance provided by EU and Council of Europe to the Albanian Prison Service which is aiming to improve internal categorisation and their treatment.

Two experts of the Council of Europe visited  w Lezha provisional facility for forensic patients from 9 to 11 September 2026. They are assisting local doctors and psychologists to get acquainted with methodologies and new tools aligned with European standards. These methodologies and tools are designed for the evaluation of future risks of re-offense among adult men, helping in their rehabilitation.

Concrete patients’ files are being consulted, to provide concrete suggestions on how they should be improved. These will help with better diagnostification, tailored individual treatment, and improved dynamic professional judgment. The experts together with local staff will propose criteria which will help categorise the patients, for a better internal management and preparation for discharge. The knowledge acquired by Lezha doctors and psychologists will lead to the independent file review for all 448 men patients currently accommodated in Lezha provisional facility for forensic patients.

The training was conducted in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme ”Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, and its action on “Enhancing the protection of Human Rights of prisoners in Albania”.

Horizontal Facility III

The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III) is a co-operation initiative, running from 2023 until 2026. The programme covers actions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. It enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.

The envelope of this facility amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the EU, 15% by the CoE).

Find out more about the Horizontal Facility III programme >>

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.