See below the information on prisoners employed184 in penitentiary establishments in
2015 and 2016.
Number of
Prisoners
Employed in
Establishments
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
Total
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
12 14 15 17 19
2015
101
21
37
26
4
247
7
32
92
60
219
27
873
2016
81
7
36
30
4
109
4
26
100
66
92
28
583
10,333 and 9,601 prisoners were serving sentence in penitentiary establishments in 2015
and 2016, respectively. In 2015, 8.4 % of prisoners were employed out of the aforementioned number and it was 6.1 % in 2016. Unfortunately, it should be noted that in 2016,
the number of employed prisoners decreased by 28.1%, in comparison to 2015.
In penitentiary establishments, enrolment of convicts in economic service is regulated by
Order no. 157 of the Minister of Corrections of Georgia on Approving the Procedure for
Performance of Economic Services by Convicts and their Remuneration. In accordance
with the said order, enrolment of a convict in economic service at a penitentiary establishment is made official by the order of the establishment’s director following a written
application of the convict.185 Such orders do not specify the details of the work to be
completed, despite the fact that this is a requirement of Article 6186 of the Labour Code of
Georgia and an essential term of a labour contract. The failure to determine the type of
work convicts have to do exposes them to the risk of performing such assignments that
was unknown before employment.
In 2015, in his Parliamentary Report, the Public Defender recommended to the Minister
of Corrections to ensure that respective orders or other attached documents expressly
stipulate the job description when enrolling a convict in economic service. However, the
monitoring visits made to establishments in the course of 2016 showed that the majority
of the prisoners involved in the economic services had to work against their will on the
weekends, days off and, if needed, at night. Therefore, it is imperative that orders or other
attached documents on enrolling prisoners in economic services expressly stipulate the
job description.
Besides, it is important that a uniform registration form is elaborated with the work
schedule of convicts working in economic service and work performed by hour for all
establishments. It should also consider the remuneration of overtime work in accordance
with the labour legislation. Keeping such a journal will enable establishing the hours spent
by each convict in economic services, whether they do overtime and how overtime work
is remunerated.
184 Unlike other penitentiary establishments, no prisoners have been employed in penitentiary establishment
no. 11 (for juveniles) and establishment no. 18 (medical) due to the specific nature of these establishments.
185 Order No. 157 of the Minister of Corrections of Georgia on Approving the Procedure for Performance of
Economic Services by Convicts and their Remuneration, Annex 1, Article 2.4.
186 Paragraph 9.d).
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2016
93
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