Work in this thematic area focuses on prisons and police (including human rights in policing, healthcare in prisons and safeguards against torture and ill-treatment), human rights standards in the judiciary (focusing on enhancing the application of case-law of the European Court of Human Rights), migration issues, the efficiency of justice systems (with a focus on analysing judicial statistics to optimise court administrations) and/or legal co-operation (which concentrates on increasing the individual independence of judges and prosecutors and the accountability of the judicial system).

Actions under theme I: Strengthening justice
  • Strengthening the quality and efficiency of justice in Albania (SEJ IV)
  • Improving the protection of the right to property and facilitating execution of ECtHR judgments in Albania (D-REX III)
  • Enhancing the protection of human rights of prisoners in Albania
  • Strengthening the efficiency and quality of justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiHSEJ)
  • Further strengthening the treatment of detained and sentenced persons in line with European standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Strengthening the quality and efficiency of justice in Kosovo* (KoSEJ III)
  • Strengthening accountability of the judicial system and enhancing protection of victims' rights in Montenegro 
  • Enhancing human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Montenegro
  • Towards a consolidated and more efficient Free Legal Aid (FLA) system in North Macedonia
  • Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia
  • Strengthening human rights protection in Serbia
  • Enhancing the human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Serbia
  • Strengthening the human rights protection in the context of migration in Türkiye
  • Towards a better evaluation of the results of judicial reform efforts in the Western Balkans – Phase II “Dashboard Western Balkans II”
  • Enhancing co-operation in the Western Balkans in managing violent extremism in prisons and preventing further radicalisation after release

*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.