On 15 May 2023, the final conference of the project “Improving the quality of the judiciary by strengthening the capacities of prison and probation system and victim and witness support system” was held at the premises of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, marking the successful completion of the multiannual project of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration.
The project of a total value of EUR 1,217,455.70 (HRK 9.172.920) was financed from the European Social Fund under the Operational Programme Efficient Human Resources 2014-2020. The implementation of project activities started in February 2019 and the Grant Agreement itself was signed on 26 July 2019.
A number of activities were carried out under the project, aimed at achieving the general objective of the project, i.e. to raise the quality of work of civil servants in the prison and probation system and the victim and witness support system through three components: improvement of business processes, strengthening of professional competencies and, lastly, empowerment of civil servants and increasing their safety.
Some of the most important activities of the project include the development of a new model of work organisation and the implementation of a pilot project for the prison system; training of civil servants to become licensed supervisors of psychosocial work; implementation of a media campaign aimed at sensitising the public about the rights of crime victims and the available support system, and numerous educational activities and exchanges of experience with other countries. In addition to activities aimed at strengthening the professional competences of civil servants, IT equipment necessary for the improvement of business processes was procured. In addition, the necessary medical and other equipment was procured for the infirmaries of penal institutions and Zagreb Prison Hospital.
In total, over 150 civil servants were included in the activities, and over 10 contracts were concluded with various contractors for the implementation of the planned activities, including the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences Zagreb, Zagreb Faculty of Law, Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, companies Deloitte d.o.o., CompING d.o.o. etc.
Opening addresses at the conference were given by Ms Margareta Mađerić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Mr Ante Džapo, Assistant Director of the Croatian Employment Service and Ms Vedrana Šimundža Nikolić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration.
Project activities and outputs were presented by Mr Zvonimir Penić, Acting Director General for Prison System and Probation, Ms Dijana Todosiev from the Central Probation Office and Ms Nikica Hamer Vidmar from the Service for Victim and Witness Support of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration.
The project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund
