OSCE Mission to Georgia organizes study visit to France for Georgian penitentiary officials

TBILISI, 9 December 2008 - Officials from Georgia's Penitentiary and Probation Training Centre are in Agen, France today to meet French legal practitioners as part of an OSCE-organized study visit.

The French Justice Ministry's National School of Penitentiary Administration is hosting the delegation.

"The aim of the visit is to strengthen the capacity of Georgia's Penitentiary and Probation Training Centre and to support the establishment of international co-operation networks," said Inkeri Aarnio-Lwoff, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia's Human Dimension Office.

The three-day visit is part of the OSCE Mission's Rule of Law Programme, which seeks to promote institutional reforms and support the effective functioning of the penitentiary and probation system of Georgia.