Ministry of Corrections of Georgia:
How do authorities supervise inmates on home detention?

How does the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia supervise and manage inmates serving time in home detention?

Today a group of diplomatic corps and media representatives saw first-hand how the Ministry remotely controlled juvenile inmates from the newly established Electric Monitoring Centre of the National Probation Agency.

Corrections Minister Kakha Kakhishvili told the group how technology and resources allowed the centre to monitor the behaviour of the young criminals without sending them to prison.

The Minister said home detention was a good tool to use as it allowed convicted citizens to continue living in society but with extra conditions and monitoring by authorities. 

The Electronic Monitoring Centre works under the National Probation Agency of the Ministry of Corrections. Photo by Ministry of Corrections. 

Georgia introduced home detention in January 1, 2016. Kakhishvili said the Corrections Ministry planned to reduce the number of people in prison by increasing the number of inmates on home detention – minors and adults – in capital Tbilisi and all over the country.

Kakhishvili said home detention was a good tool for people who committed minor crimes. He stressed this would not jeopardise public safety as the inmates would be monitored closely. Inmates on house arrest are allowed to continue their lives under careful guard, without the need of post-prison resocialisation.

The Corrections Ministry now planned to upgrade its technology and purchase a special server that allowed the Electric Monitoring Centre to monitor 1,000 inmates on home detention simultaneously. 

At the Centre today the invited visitors were able to see craft items made by prisoners at a special wood processing plant located in one of the prisons. Inmates were paid to carry out their jobs, as the Ministry planned to sell their creations and wood production.

Diplomats at the Electronic Monitoring Centre. Photo by the Ministry of Corrections. 

Kakhishvili said this approach to offer inmates’ jobs helped them to utilise their skills so when they left prison they would have a talent that could assist them in finding a job.

The guests agreed Georgia had made progress by modernising its justice system, and the country was now one of the leaders in the region in this regard.