Delegation from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine visit Berlin to discuss the prison system
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- Published: November 27, 2017

From 13 to 16 November 2017, a delegation from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine led by Oksana Reiter, Head of the External Relations Department, were in Berlin on a working visit. The delegation included, amongst others, the Director of the state prison service department, Oksana Paschenko, as well as its Deputy Director, Oleksii Bondarenko.
To begin the visit, the Head of the “International Legal Cooperation; Proceedings” department, Alexandra Albrecht, welcomed the guests to the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV). Whilst there, Claudia Eller-Funke gave a speech about the structure and work of the Ministry.
Afterwards, the Head of the “International Fight against Terrorism; penal legislation for the protection of the state” department, Dr. Martin Hiestand, informed the guests about the regulations for the enforcement of life sentences. Talks with the Head of the “Law Enforcement” department at the Senate for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-discrimination, Susanne Gerlach, dealt with this focal point of the visit in more detail.
A visit to the Tegel penal institution and talks with its Director, Martin Riemer, and the Public Relations officer at the JVA, Rafael Galejew, presented an opportunity for further discussion of prison system regulations and practices.
To conclude the visit, the Ukrainian guests visited the Berlin young offenders’ institution and held talks with its Deputy Prison Director, Silvia Hawliczek.
The subject of the prison system and in particular conditions of detention for life prisoners, which is covered by the cooperation agreement between the BMJV and the Ministry of Justice in Ukraine, was met with great interest by the Ukrainian visitors and is set to be continued next year with a focus on open prisons.