general rule.46 But it is then for the governments to elaborate their own accountability standards. These standards should serve to managing prisons effectively and should be in line with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. This can be made possible by putting in place a legal framework that allows for internal and external assessment of performance of both the prison administration and each staff member based on pre-determined indicators and evaluation of maintaining order in prisons. The development of such framework will increase transparency, accountability and credibility of the penitentiary institutions.47 Although penitentiary institutions are periodically sending their reports on issues of concern to the Penitentiary Department and the Ministry of Corrections, there is no system in place to assess performance of prison administrations based on predetermined indicators. As for the individual accountability of prison staff, they are reporting to their direct supervisor; in addition, possible misconduct committed by the penitentiary personnel is investigated by the Inspectorate-General of the Ministry of Corrections. To ensure proper performance of their functions by and accountability of the penitentiary system employees, it is necessary to develop clear job descriptions, standard operation procedures, ethics codes and incident management guidelines. Unfortunately, because of the lack of a set of such guiding documents and low qualification of employees of the penitentiary system, the prison staff find it difficult to make right decisions in a timely manner, which on its turn is associated with an increased risk of power abuse and ill-treatment. Extremely important is to develop a clear-worded ethics code that, among other profession-related issues, would cover: staff behavior rules that would positively affect the environment inside the penitentiary institutions; competent and diligent performance of their duties by the staff in accordance with the legislation and other normative acts, relevant handbooks and lawful orders of superiors; collegial attitude to fellow staff members; respect for the human dignity of prisoners; protection of confidentiality; and maintenance of high professional standards in public relations. 2.3.3.  STAFF TRAINING As the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners provide, the prison personnel shall possess an adequate standard of education and intelligence.48 Another 46 47 48 Handbook for prison leaders: a basic training tool and curriculum for prison managers based on international standards and norms, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, New York, 2010, accessible in English at http://www.unodc.org/ [last viewed 22.03.2015]. United Nations Prison Incident Management Handbook, 2013, p. 17. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rule 47-1, accessible in English at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ [last viewed 02.03.2015]. 36 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM OF GEORGIA