After the major political changes that occurred in 1989-91, the countries of central and eastern Europe have made reform of the criminal justice system a priority in the progress toward democratic institutions. This assessment of their progress focuses on their compliance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the European Prison Rules. The material for this study was collected mainly through visits to some of the countries and by means of a questionnaire survey administered to the other countries. The findings show much variation between the countries of the region, but there has been significant progress in developing these prison systems in accordance with international standards and best practice; however, many serious problems remain, including overcrowding, the poor state of prison buildings, the conditions of pretrial detention, the limited resources available to operate the systems, delays in passing new legislation, the recruitment and retention of good quality staff, problems of ensuring positive staff attitudes and of finding employment for prisoners, and, in many countries, the problems of tuberculosis and its treatment. The paper concludes with suggestions for actions that should be taken at the national level by the governments concerned and their prison administrations as well as at the international level in cooperation with other countries. 3 tables and 10 references