Civil society urges political class to modify procedure for naming prosecutor

A group of civil society organizations called upon the political class to refrain from naming persons to posts according to political criteria and to modify the procedure for appointing and dismissing the prosecutor general as soon as possible, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We are convinced that only a politically independent prosecutor’s office can appropriately protect the people’s interests. Without an efficient prosecutor’s office, the legal system cannot make progress. The work and image of the prosecutor’s office depends on the prosecutor general,” reads a statement issued by the NGOs. The nongovernmental organizations say the previous practice of naming the administration of the Prosecutor General’s Office according to political criteria affected its efficiency and reduced the people’s confidence in this institution. The signatories stress that under the Constitution, the prosecutor’s office must be independent from the executive and the legislature. The statement was signed by the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption, Promo-LEX Association, the Legal Resources Center and other NGOs and comes as a response to the Liberal Party’s request to offer them the post of prosecutor general. Earlier, the Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu said in an interview that the Liberal Party gave the position of Speaker of the Democrats and should be now allowed to hold the post of prosecutor general.