Penal System Employees Day in Tajikistan Date in the current year: April 5, 2024

The penal system of Tajikistan is based on the following principles: rule of law and social justice; protecting and ensuring the rights and freedoms of persons and citizens; humanism, openness and accessibility. It consists of the Main Corrections Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan, correctional institutions, pre-trial detention centers, correctional centers, the correctional inspection, medical institutions (general hospitals, psychiatric and tuberculosis hospitals, medical units), subordinate enterprises, and military units providing surveillance, supervision and security.

As of 2020, Tajikistan had 19 penal institutions, including five pre-trial detention centers, four settlement colonies, one educational colony for juveniles, one penal colony for women, and eight correctional institutions with strict, mixed and general regimes in various regions of the country. The number of convicted prisoners in Tajikistan at the time was about 13,300, including 186 women and 56 juveniles.

The main tasks of correctional institutions that make up the penal system of Tajikistan are outlined in the law “On Penal System” adopted in 2004. They include:

• Ensuring that convicted criminals serve their sentences
• Carrying out activities aimed at reforming prisoners
• Maintaining order in correctional facilities and ensuring the safety of prisoners and personnel
• Providing work for prisoners
• Detecting, preventing and solving crimes planned and committed in correctional facilities
• Conducting preliminary investigations on crimes committed by prisoners in correctional facilities
• Assisting other law enforcement agencies in investigating and solving crimes committed by prisoners before arrival at correctional facilities
• Preparing prisoners for release, interacting with government bodies and public organizations to provide them with a job and a place to live upon release
• And more

Many people associate the phrase “penal system employees” with prison guards but it is just one of many professions in the correctional system. According to the aforementioned law “On Penal System”, employees of the penal system of Tajikistan are citizens of Tajikistan who hold positions in the bodies, divisions, institutions, structures and enterprises of the state penal system and have been awarded special ranks. Penal system employees are civil servants.

Penal System Employees Day is celebrated in Tajikistan on April 5 according to the law “On Holidays”. It was added to the country’s list of official professional days in 2022. The main goal of the holiday is to thank all people working in the country’s penal system for their hard work and dedication and highlight their contribution to criminal justice. Like all professional holidays in Tajikistan, Penal System Employees Day is a working day unless it falls during a weekend.