General characteristics of the State Penitentiary Service and penal institutions in the Lviv region
The information was prepared based on the outcomes of the project ‘Development of Civil Society in Ukraine’, implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and ISAR Ednannia with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The charitable foundation ‘Samodopomoha’ implemented the project ‘Assisting the public in protecting human rights in penal institutions of the Lviv region’.
The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine consists of a central apparatus, 25 territorial management bodies in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, various regions, the city of Kyiv, and the Kyiv region, 183 institutions, 703 units of the penitentiary inspection, and educational establishments (two primary training centres and one college of the second level of accreditation).
In the 183 institutions of the penitentiary service, approximately 160,000 individuals are detained, with an equivalent number registered under the supervision of the 703 units of the penitentiary inspection.
In the Lviv region, the State Penitentiary Service is represented by the administration of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, the Lviv pre-trial detention centre, 6 penal institutions, the Sambir juvenile colony, and 32 units of the penitentiary inspection.
Currently, there are approximately 6,500 people in the region's institutions, and 5,200 people are registered with the 32 units of the penitentiary inspection of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments in the Lviv region.
During 2007, 1,192 individuals were released from penal institutions on parole in accordance with Article 81 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and Article 82 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (replacement of the unserved part of the sentence with a milder one) was applied to 383 individuals.
Conditions regarding the detention of convicts, as well as their nutrition and medical care, are being improved. In the region's penal institutions, the planned complex of measures for the routine repair of residential and utility facilities has been completed: 19 dormitories, 8 medical units, 8 bath-and-laundry complexes, and 8 food warehouses have been renovated.
In accordance with Article 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the right of citizens residing in places of deprivation of liberty to obtain a full general secondary education is being realised.
Together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Department has, over the last two years, restored the network of general education and vocational training institutions within penal facilities, which had been dismantled in 1994. Currently, there are 7 secondary schools functioning at penal institutions in the Lviv region, and an evening educational institution was established at the Lviv pre-trial detention centre in September 2006.
For the 2007–2008 academic year, 848 convicts were enrolled in general educational institutions within the region’s facilities, which accounts for 82% of those who do not possess a full secondary education.
Additionally, 7 training centres and 1 vocational school have been established and are currently operating in the region. In the vocational training institutions attached to the penal facilities, approximately 1,000 convicts annually acquire vocational skills and improve their qualifications across 15 professions.
Special attention is paid to the medical and sanitary provision for convicts and detainees, which is carried out in the medical units of each institution and in the inter-regional somatic hospital at the Lviv pre-trial detention centre.
To ensure that convicts can exercise their right to work, 7 enterprises are in operation, which produce goods and provide services of an industrial nature.
In the bodies and institutions of the penitentiary service in the Lviv region, there are currently 2,172 employees, of whom:
- middle and senior commanding staff — 508;
- rank-and-file and junior commanding staff — 1,105;
- civilian staff — 559.
The penitentiary service of the Lviv region ensures the fulfilment of its assigned tasks, to a large extent, thanks to the active support and assistance of the leadership of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, the Lviv Regional State Administration and the Regional Council, the Lviv City Council, municipal and district councils and administrations, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, religious and charitable organisations, and the regional public.