EU Project Pravo-Justice Presents Interim Results of Support to Probation Reform in Ukraine

On 16 October, EU Pravo-Justice Project presented the interim results of cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the State Institution ‘Probation Center’ in supporting the reform of the probation system in Ukraine since the beginning of the third phase of the Project (January 2024). During this time, the Project team worked to improve legislation, digitalise processes, develop human resources, and support the social and educational capacity of probation offices.

The key results of this work include:

• Dedlivery of expert recommendations to legislation and regulations, in particular: advocating Laws No. 9148 and No. 9149 on the execution of punishment in the form of fines and community service; amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Justice 272/5 on the mobile application ‘E-probation’ and risk assessment; and preparation of recommendations to draft laws ‘On the Penitentiary System’ and ‘On the Disciplinary Statute for Penitentiary System Employees’.
• Development and implementation of a unified risk assessment of reoffending, which is used for pre-trial reports and social-educational work, ensuring a comprehensive approach to working with probation clients.
• Creation of a comprehensive course of 12 modules on ‘The most effective approaches to working with juvenile probation clients’, which covers modern methods of resocialisation.
• Formation of a network of probation volunteers ‘Agents of Change’ (from 38 volunteers at the beginning of the project to more than 830 people as of today) and training of mentors-trainers to ensure the sustainable development of the service.
• Development of digital solutions: analytical dashboards and quality control system for risk assessments.
• Development and implementation of an HR strategy for the probation service with modern procedures for recruiting, adapting and developing staff. Thanks to this HR strategy, in 2023, the Probation Center became the only state institution to be officially short-listed for the All-Ukrainian HR PRO AWARDS.
• Large-scale training for heads of branch offices of the State Institution ‘Probation Center’: more than 480 managers have completed four modules of the Probation Managers’ School (module five to be completed in November).

During the presentation, Olena Kochura, Key Expert on Reforming the Penitentiary System and Probation at EU Project Pravo-Justice, noted that those results demonstrated the systemic approach of EU Pravo-Justice Project to probation reform in Ukraine.

“We are working in a comprehensive manner: from legislative changes and digitisation to human resource development and adaptation to European standards. Thanks to cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Probation Center, we have implemented an updated the risk assessment methodology, built a network of volunteers and mentors, and created a modern HR strategy and digital tools for data-driven management. These are all important steps towards an effective, professional, and humane probation system that makes society safer,” said Olena Kochura.

During the event, the Project experts and representatives of the State Institution ‘Probation Centre’ discussed further cooperation: further development of high-quality legislative changes; improvement of digital tools; introduction of modern approaches in social and educational work; promotion of the probation service to address the problem of staff shortage, further expansion of the network of volunteers and mentors, and enhancing the human resource capacity of the service.

In her turn, Tetiana Kitchata, Deputy Director of the State Institution ‘Probation Center’, expressed hope for continued cooperation with EU Project Pravo-Justice.

“We hope to continue our fruitful cooperation with EU Pravo-Justice Project, because it is only joint efforts that make it possible to develop a pro-European, modern, and people-friendly probation system in Ukraine,” said Tetiana Kitchata.