Prison Administration in the Republic of Macedonia is centralized…

More

The Macedonian Prison System is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. The execution of sanctions is conducted in accordance with art. 23 of the Law On Execution of Sanctions [LES], by the Director of the Directorate competent for the matters of sanctions’ execution that operates within the Ministry of Justice (Directorate of Prison Administration). The Prison Directorate has the responsibility of exercising supervision over the institutions’ work (art 74 LES)

Prison Administration in the Republic of Macedonia is centralized. The Directorate of Execution of Sanctions has jurisdiction over the whole territory of the republic of Macedonia. The penal and correctional institutions are founded and closed down by a decision of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia upon a proposal given by the Minister of Justice (art 26 LES) (while e.g. in Poland it is the independent decision of Minister of Justice).

In Macedonia prison sentence may not be less than 30 days, or more than 15 years, except cases of a life sentence for specific crimes. Those sentenced to life sentence are eligible for conditional release after 15 years of imprisonment.

It seems important to note that Macedonia avoided the introduction of special long-term imprisonment of 40 years as it is in Montenegro or in Bosnia/Herzegovina.

There are nine prisons in Macedonia, however due to several incidents one has been closed and the prisoners have been transferred to other prisons.

The prison population in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia amounts to approximately 1,500 prisoners. The prison population only in the year of 2001 alone has increased by 300 persons.

The total number of staff employed by the prison system is 450, out of which 215 are security staff. Most of the security staff have secondary education (statistical data XII.2001).

There are serious training deficiencies among the basic grade staff. Many have not received any training entering duty.

Analysis provided by Monika Platek, Associate Professor, Institute of Penal Law, Law Faculty, Warsaw University.

Hide