CAT/OP/MKD/1/Add.1 reconstruction of the buildings of the Closed Unit and the Female Unit at PCI Idrizovo, as well as construction and reconstruction of buildings at Skopje Prison. 40. Regarding the Law on probation, it was promulgated in 2015 (The Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia № 226/2015). The Probation Service is gradually established, that is to say, the Probation Office at Skopje I Skopje Court of First Instance was established and commenced its operation as a Pilot Project in mid-November 2017, in order to assess the operation manner of the new service, as well as to make the required improvements and adjustments of the service and its practical functioning. The Probation Office is fully equipped with furniture and IT equipment. Two employees of the Directorate for Execution of Sanctions have been appointed to perform their work assignments in this office. Additionally, the Probation Offices in Shtip, Veles, Tetovo, Strumica and Prilep are provided. The Directorate has allocated the finances for equipping the other Probation Offices, and this public procurement is scheduled with the Directorate’s Public Procurement Plan for 2018. 41. Among other, some probation offices are furnished, and during the period that follows they shall be additionally furnished and equipped. Funds are provided for the maintenance of electronic surveillance equipment and a procedure has been initiated to conduct a public procurement for maintenance. 42. The implementation of the Twining Project shall commence in August 2018, which foresees many activities to establish and strengthen the capacities of the probation services. 43. In terms of bylaws pursuant to the Law on Probation, the bylaws have been adopted by the Minister of Justice, and during 2018 they shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia. 44. Moreover, in order to diminish the overcrowding at penal-correctional institutions, the Law on Amnesty was promulgated in January 2018, whereby up to and including 23 February 2018, a total of 2345 sentenced persons were covered, 736 of them were completely released, and the prison sentence to 1560 persons was reduced 30%. The Law on Amnesty represents a short-term measure which alleviates the capacities of the penalcorrectional institutions which were confronting extreme overcrowding, thereby creating an opportunity for effective and efficient realization of other planned measures and activities of DES, which shall contribute to the long-term handling of the challenges of the penitentiary system. C. Petty corruption 45. The DES has set a special strategic objective in the National Strategy for development of the penitentiary system of the Republic of Macedonia related the efforts to counter corruption and improper treatment in prisons. The said strategic objective comprises of measures and activities to counter the aforementioned phenomena. 46. Taking into account the importance of these two areas, one specific objective (out of a total of 3) within the framework of the Project “Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Sentenced Persons”, which is implemented by the Council of Europe concerns strengthening of the protection of the rights of sentenced persons by introducing effective mechanisms for dealing with cases of improper treatment and corruption in PCI and in ECI. 47. In that regard, two international consultants hired by the Council of Europe carried a mission in the period 11–15 June 2016 to assess the situation regarding the improper treatment and cases of corruption in the Macedonian penitentiary system. They prepared a Report on the assessed situation, which was presented at a workshop held on October 12, 2016, attended by all stakeholders. 48. Considering the complexity of these two phenomena (improper treatment and corruption), two working groups were established in collaboration with two international and one national expert, engaged by the Council of Europe, which prepared separate Strategies on Zero Tolerance of these phenomena, as follows: Strategy for implementation 7