By Lino Brosius
Probation as an alternative sanction is gaining traction within the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. On Wednesday 27 November 2019, CILC, NHC and several Dutch legal practitioners took part in a donor coordination meeting on probation, hosted by the new Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Justice Mr. Vitalii Vasylyk. During this meeting, Deputy Minister Vasylyk presented a new strategy on criminal justice, in which alternative measures would become the first line of sanctions for non-violent crimes. He explained that the Ministry aims to move from a criminal justice system focused on punishment, to one focused on HR and proportionality; leaving prison as a last resort. Deputy Minister Vasylyk’s colleagues in the criminal justice department are currently working on a draft law on alternative sanctions that emphasizes rehabilitation, public safety and resource efficiency.
The draft law focuses on the front and back end of the criminal justice system: having less people entering prison through the use of community sentences, and pushing more people out via conditional and early release schemes with targeted rehabilitation and reintegration work. Deputy Minister Vasylyk expressed gratitude to all donors for their continuous high-level support in the area of probation and alternative sanctions over the past years and requested that all share their views and suggestions on the draft law.
CILC is proud to contribute to the development and mainstreaming of probation measures in Ukraine. Together with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and the Ukrainian Centre for Judicial Studies, CILC has worked on probation in Ukraine since 2016.
This donor coordination meeting is part of the Ukrainian-Dutch Matra project Probation and alternative sanctions in Ukraine. This project is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more information about this project and its upcoming events, please contact CILC project manager Lino Brosius.
Pictures courtesy of the Center of Probation of Ukraine.