Georgia’s Justice Training Centre elected Chair of European Penitentiary Training Academies

The Justice Training Centre of Georgia has become the Chair of the European Penitentiary Training Academies, a body uniting 36 member states of the Council of Europe to enhance cooperation, share knowledge and best practices among training institutions of the penitentiary system across the continent.

The Georgian Justice Ministry revealed the development on Wednesday, saying following the election hosted during the network’s Tallinn conference Georgia would host the EPTA annual gathering next year, and noting the country’s chairmanship of the body would run for a year. 

The Justice Training Centre will have the opportunity to promote the establishment of innovative training methods and high professional standards in the penitentiary system under the auspices of the EPTA chair”, the Ministry said. 

Reacting to the “great achievement” in his social media post, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said the chairmanship meant “recognition of success and trust”, as well as “more European knowledge and innovation, which is a prerequisite for further development”. 

Bregadze also pledged the country’s institutions would “definitely become the educational hub of penitentiary systems in the [South Caucasus] region”.