2. SITUATION IN PENITENTIARY INSTITUTIONS 2.1.  GENERAL OVERVIEW The year of 2014 saw several positive changes in the penitentiary system. Among the changes was the amendment of the Imprisonment Code to determine four types of institutions according to security risk level which differentiated prisoner rights according to the risk levels. It is safe to say that, in spite of several arguable clauses, the amendments generally improved the rights of prisoners at the legislative level. We would like to mention draft amendments to the Imprisonment Code authored by the Ministry of Corrections,2 which has been submitted to the Parliament of Georgia. On 28 January 2015, the Public Defender sent its proposal about the draft law to the Georgian Parliament. In its proposal, the Public Defender welcomes the planned reform of the penitentiary system but emphasizes some of the key issues related to the draft law such as the need for improving the early release mechanism and the procedures for prisoner allocation/ transfer, the need for reducing a term of administrative detention of prisoners in high risk institutions, etc. A major component of the Public Defender’s proposal is the Public Defender’s request to allow the Public Defender and its Special Preventive Group members to take photographs inside the penitentiary institutions. On the initiative of the Georgian Parliament, a working group of representatives from the Ministry of Corrections and the Public Defender’s Office was set up to discuss this request. It is certainly worth noting that the Ministry of Corrections took the Public Defender’s initiative into consideration adding a relevant clause to the draft law under review, which entitles the Public Defender and its Special Preventive Group members to take photos inside penitentiary institutions pursuant to a procedure established by the Minister of Corrections. According to the draft clause, the Minister of Corrections will elaborate such a procedure in cooperation with the Public Defender and publish it no later than 1 August 2016. The clause entitling the Public Defender and its Special Preventive Group members to take photos inside the penitentiary institutions will take effect on 1 September 2016. During the reporting period, the Central Penitentiary Hospital was refurbished and opened thus improving access to healthcare services to some extent. Penitentiary Institution No. 16 was refurbished as well. The Public Defender welcomes the introduction of a six-month training program for the regime officers of the Penitentiary Department. We believe a long-term professional education for the Penitentiary Department employees has a crucial role in ensuring 2 A full text of the draft law together with an explanatory note accompanying the draft law can be accessed at http://www.parliament.ge/ge/law/7805 [last viewed 11.02.2015] NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM OF GEORGIA 11