Study trip on the reform of the penitentiary system

Visit by the Uzbek delegation to the prison Berlin Tegel.
Visit by the Uzbek delegation to the prison Berlin Tegel.
Uzbekistan

Against the background of the upcoming modernisation of the penitentiary system in Uzbekistan, a study tour on the reform of the penitentiary system, including international standards, took place in Berlin from 16 to 18 April 2024 in cooperation with the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which was represented by Bekzod Karimov, Chief Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision of the Application of Legislation on the Execution of Judicial Decisions and Decisions of Other Bodies. The Head of the Probation Service of the Department for Ensuring Public Security and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Sharof Uralov, represented the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan.

Klaus Meyer-Cabri, Head of Department D of the Federal Ministry of Justice, welcomed the delegation at the beginning of the working visit. Jochen Goerdeler, Head of Division IV A5, gave a presentation on penitentiary law in Germany.

The Uzbek participants visited the Berlin Prison Training Academy, whose director, Dr Marcel Tietz, described the selection process for applicants, the content of the training and the opportunities for further training. Of particular interest to the delegation was the pilot project ‘VR Detention Room Revision’, in which various scenarios can be played out in a virtual detention room with the help of mobile VR glasses.

Over the next two days, the delegation visited three different types of prisons in Berlin: the open and the closed prison Tegel and the remand prison Moabit. The specialist presentations were rounded off with visits to the specially secured detention room, the nursery, the vehicle workshop and the training kitchen.

The delegation was impressed by the very informative technical discussions and the guided tours, which gave them a direct insight into the practical side of penitentiary system in Germany. They emphasised that they took away many valuable ideas for the national reforms in Uzbekistan.