Consultative meeting held to suggest improvements in KP prisons act

PESHAWAR: UNDP Pakistan with support from the European Union (EU) Thursday organized a consultative session here to discuss shortcomings in KP Prison Act, identify issues and challenges and propose areas for improvement.

The session provided a platform to all stakeholders to give suggestions to bring improvement in the legal framework for prisons in the province while would also help in overcoming challenges like overcrowding and abundance of under-trial prisoners in the KP prisons. Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prison Khalid Abbas and UNDP Pakistan’s Rule of Law (Amn-o-Insaf) Programme Manager Darren Nance inaugurated the event. In his remarks, Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prison Khalid Abbas said that the legal framework of prisons, although serving its purpose, is outdated and in dire need to be revised to meet the contemporary needs of a prison regime.

“Since its inception in 1894, it has only seen three revisions. I am thankful to the EU and UNDP for their work for an improved Prisons Act. KP Government is supporting this effort and we look forward to working together,” he said.

Darren Nance from UNDP said that this consultative session was an excellent exercise to engage experienced and relevant experts in the process.

The session was attended by senior prisons officers, representatives from KP Home and Tribal Affairs Department, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, UNDP, UN Women, and UNODC to share experiences, lessons learned, and recommend the most suitable legal framework for the prisons, based on the identified gaps.

This activity was held through the EU supported “Promoting the Rule of Law and Enhancing the Criminal Justice System in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Newly Merged Districts and Balochistan” project.

Jointly implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the programme aims to support reform processes to ensure delivery of people-centered justice, enhance access to justice for all, particularly women and less privileged/marginalized groups; and improve service delivery of the security sector in line with constitutional safeguards and international standards.