The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has formally asked a number of international organizations to analyze the extent to which a set of proposed amendments, which refer to disciplinary proceedings and evaluation of the Prosecutor General, as well as changes to the Superior Council of Prosecutors, meet international standards, IPN reports.
The PGO has said in a statement it is asking the relevant international organizations to express their opinion as to how the proposed amendments will impact the independence of prosecutors, and asks for a condemnation of what it perceives to be political pressure against it.
The PGO further asks the international organizations to note “the lack of justification for the urgency of the substantial amendments that reconfigure the mandate of the Prosecutor General” and the failure of the bill’s authors to request the opinion of specialty expert bodies – including the Venice Commission and the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors – prior to its adoption in second reading.
The PGO also complains of its independence being violated by requests from political authorities to report on particular criminal cases and receive recommendations on how such cases should be investigated.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office pleads for all reforms, including the evaluation mechanism, to be carried out within a strict legal framework, in compliance with the principle of separation of powers, based on a correct dialogue and mutual respect, so that society has confidence that all the measures undertaken have bona fide objectives”, reads the statement.
According to the PGO, the bill approved in the first reading “was drafted in a haste that has no justification, creating the perception that the aim is to establish political control over the prosecution system and that the real stake behind promoting the evaluation mechanism is to dismiss the incumbent Prosecutor General.”
On August 13, Parliament approved a bill in the first reading that introduces the possibility to evaluate the Prosecutor General’s and dismiss him or her if the result is deemed unsatisfactory. Another draft amendment approved on August 13 introduces a new methodology for electing and appointing members of the Superior Council of Prosecutors and the Superior Council of Magistrates.
On August 20, Parliament formally found the progress made by the PGO and the National Anticorruption Center in investigating the 2014 bank fraud to be unsatisfactory. Prior to this, Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo had been summoned to report on the matter, but he didn’t show up.
