Prison Police officers and senior representatives of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions in North Macedonia have drafted the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the Prison Police Intervention Teams. Introduced as a novelty in the 2024 amendments to the Law on Execution of Sanctions, these teams are tasked with managing high and very-high risk sentenced persons.

The SOP specifies the course of actions carried by these teams, including the inmates’ transfers and search operations as well as the procedures for reporting and accountability. These will provide enhanced security and support the work of the Prison Police officers. 

In the past year, the EU and Council of Europe joint action worked with the DES on the rulebook that sets the legal frame for the intervention teams, which entered into force in November 2024. The rulebook not only defines the team’s responsibilities, leadership structure, and management, but also includes key safeguards on the use of means of coercion and disciplinary liability. The aim of the provided expertise is to protect the human rights of the sentenced persons, while setting effective procedures that would increase the overall security of North Macedonia’s prisons.

This initiative 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 “Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia”.