The Council of Europe has long been at the forefront of prison reform and human rights protection through its comprehensive “triangle” approach: standard setting, monitoring, and technical assistance. This presentation will spotlight the often-underrepresented third pillar - technical assistance - and the transformative role it plays in bridging standards and implementation across member states.
Participants will gain insight into CPDL’s targeted support to improve prison healthcare systems, including mental health services, through needs assessments, legal and policy advisory, peer exchanges, and expert-led training. The session will also explore CPDL’s growing focus on staff well-being, addressing the emotional and psychological toll of working with high-risk inmate populations. This includes strategies for institutional resilience, developing internal support systems, and fostering partnerships with external mental health services.
Learn how technical assistance is turning human rights principles into daily practice behind prison walls. This presentation is ideal for professionals working in justice reform, prison management, healthcare in detention, or human rights monitoring, offering better understanding on devising tailored technical assistance programmes to ensuring sustainable impact.
Moderated by Fatih Güngör, Board Member, ICPA, Türkiye
×
Tanja Rakusic-Hadzic
Head of the Cooperation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty Division, Council of Europe, France
Ms. Rakusic-Hadzic is the Head of the Cooperation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty (CPDL) Division within the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) at the Council of Europe. Since 2007, she has led the Council’s technical assistance programmes in the fields of prisons, probation, police, and psychiatric institutions across member States. Under her leadership, the CPDL Division currently manages 16 fully operational projects, with an additional 20 in various stages of development and negotiation with donors and beneficiaries. With a team of 46 staff members operating across 11 countries, the Division has grown into one of the Council of Europe’s largest cooperation entities. Ms. Rakusic-Hadzic has played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Network of Police Services of the Member States, for which the Division now provides secretariat support. A lawyer by training, she previously held various positions at the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She later joined the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo before moving to the Council’s headquarters in Strasbourg in 2004.
×
Donche Boshkovski
Head of Unit, Cooperation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty Division, Council of Europe, France
Donche Boshkovski is the Head of Unit II within the Cooperation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty (CPDL) Division of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) at the Council of Europe. His work primarily focuses on supporting CPDL beneficiary countries in aligning their penitentiary, probation, and law enforcement systems with Council of Europe standards. He earned his bachelor’s degree in law from the State University in Skopje in 2001, and his LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex, United Kingdom, in 2009. Donche has been with the Council of Europe since 2013. Prior to this, he served as a torture prevention advisor within the National Preventive Mechanism of the Ombudsman Office of the Republic of North Macedonia, and as a National Rule of Law Officer with the OSCE Mission to Skopje.
