The Prosecutor General’s Office says it will formally ask the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the latest amendments to the Law on the Prosecution Service. According to the PGO, Parliament adopted the amendments in a haste, ignoring decision-making transparency procedures and without consulting expert bodies such as the Venice Commission, IPN reports.

“In addition to our previous statements, the Prosecutor General’s Office expresses its disagreement with the way the amendments in question have been promoted and adopted. In the form drafted by the Minister of Justice, they could produce effects that will seriously violate the constitutional principle of the Prosecution Service’s independence and that of the separation of powers, undermining the independence of prosecutors to the advantage of the political factor”.

Parliament today adopted in the final reading a bill that introduces the Prosecutor General’s evaluation. Under the procedure, a commission will evaluate the job done by the Prosecutor General, based on which the Superior Council of Prosecutors will rate it as ‘excellent’, ‘good’ or ‘unsatisfactory’. In case of an ‘unsatisfactory’ rating, the Superior Council of Prosecutors will propose to the President the dismissal of the Prosecutor General.

Also, Parliament voted to reduce the number of members on the Superior Council of Prosecutors from 15 to 12, as the Prosecutor General, the Chief Prosecutor of the Gagauz autonomy and the president of the Bar Association are removed. The sponsors of the bill said the Prosecutor General needed to be removed in order to reduce his influence on the Council and on the rest of the SCP prosecutor-members.