The amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine regarding judiciary of June 2, 2016, have become another step on the long way towards the reform of the prosecutor’s office. They have limited the functions of the prosecutor’s office, having, in particular, abolished the general supervision which – before 2014 – had allowed the prosecutors to block operation of businesses.
By September 30, 2016 – the day the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine came into force – the Prosecutor General’s Office should have initiated, while the Verkhovna Rada should have brought other laws regulating the activity of the prosecution in line with the new constitutional requirements.
However, in late September a group of MPs headed by Valeriy Karpuntsov registered the draft law No. 5177 (on amendments to several legislative acts of Ukraine in connection with adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (regarding judiciary)” (to ensure implementation of functions of the prosecutor’s office) which was later endorsed by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The experts of the Reanimation Package of Reforms warn: the draft law No. 5177 includes a number of dangerous regulations which extend beyond the limits established by the Constitution and threaten with a rollback of the already implemented reforms. In particular, it proposes:
However, it is essential and urgent to bring the laws regulating the activity of the prosecutor’s office in line with the new version of the Constitution. In particular, incompliance of the Law “On the Prosecutor’s Office” with the requirements of the Constitution jeopardizes consideration of criminal cases by courts.
Therefore, the experts of the Reanimation Package of Reforms together with the MPs have developed and registered in the parliament the draft law No. 5177-1, which, on the one hand, brings the laws in line with the Constitution, while on the other hand, corresponds to the concept of reforming the sphere of criminal justice laid down by the Coalition Agreement.
Thus, the experts of the Reanimation Package of Reforms