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New Bill to Abolish Specialized Prosecutor’s Offices

Date of publication: 30 August 2013

Source: Interfax Ukraine

The Public Prosecution Bill introduced to the Parliament by the Executive Office of the President will abolish specialized attorney’s offices and change the structure of the Public Prosecution Service, Mykola Burtovyi, an attorney at Ilyashev & Partners, told Interfax Ukraine.

He said the proposed changes will reach as far as the system of bodies of the Public Prosecution Service which under a new Act will consist of the Office of the Prosecutor General (Attorney General) and local public prosecutor’s offices. City, district, interdistrict, transport, martial and environmental prosecutor’s offices will disappear.

Besides, Mr. Burtovyi said, «the «general supervision» function will be abolished under the new Act as obsolete and outdated». The rest of the functions will be preserved.

According to Mr. Burtovyi, a significant step is a new transparent procedure of appointing prosecutors which he believes will ensure real access to this position.

«In fact, this procedure is similar to one used for judges», he said.

Another novelty that Mr. Burtovyi finds favorable is the changed procedure of bringing disciplinary actions against prosecutors.

«The new bill contains explicit causes of disciplinary action as well as provisions aimed at protecting prosecutors from possible defamation», he explained.

At the same time, Mr. Burtovyi said, the new bill introduces a number of amendments to other laws, statutes and regulations. However, it is difficult to make any forecasts about their implications right now.

He believes that if the Public Prosecution Bill is going to be passed and enacted, it will help bring public prosecution to a totally new level.