Today, the Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan published ad hoc public report “On Monitoring of the Activity of the State Probation Service” in Armenian and English.
The report was prepared by a special methodology, reflecting the results of visits made to all units of the Probation Service, interviews and surveys. The report contains a comprehensive study of the current state of the Probation Service.
"Systemic issues exist in the Probation Service that are conditioned by the ineffectiveness of institutional cooperation between different state bodies, as well as non-proper principles laid in the functions of that service. All these hinders the role of probation in re-socialization of the person and reintegration into the society. Nevertheless, I highlight the commitment of the Minister of Justice to make changes in the field based on our report," said Arman Tatoyan.
The results of the visits made by the Human Rights Defender's Office show that material and technical conditions for the work of the staff of the Probation Service, as well as staffing, especially with regard to the involvement of psychologists and other professionals on permanent basis, are inadequate.
The Defender also noted that the stereotypes in the society towards convicts and persons accused of committing crime also hinder the full resolution of the issues that the Probation Service face.
The report also refers to the existing issues in criminal, criminal procedural and penitentiary legislation in detail.
They relate to the supervision over implementation of the punishments not related to deprivation of liberty, non-implementation of certain functions of the probation service due to the lack of legal basis, as well as to the overall review of the criminal policy and punishment system.
In the report published within the project “Monitoring, assessment, evaluation of the development and implementation of the Probation Service in Armenia” funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Armenian and Georgia, recommendation for solving recorded issues are presented.
During the event, the methodology and framework of the monitoring on the State Probation Service activity, the lack of adequate staffing and material resources, punishments not related to deprivation of liberty, legislative and law enforcement issues, as well as the role of the service in re-socialization of persons, early conditional release and electronic surveillance were presented.
The presentation of the report was followed by question and answer.