The Special Advisor of the Council of Europe Secretary General for Ukraine welcomes the recent acceleration in the pace of reform of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ukraine. The reform of the prosecution system is one of the most important elements of the justice sector reforms and is regarded as a high level priority by the Council of Europe. When joining the Organisation, Ukraine undertook a commitment to transform this institution into a body which would be in line with Council of Europe standards. Consequently, the Council of Europe is closely following the progress in this area through its political and monitoring bodies, along with providing technical assistance through cooperation activities.

The Council of Europe supports the General Prosecutor’s Office reform agenda. We believe that all the necessary conditions should be created for the effective implementation of the new Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Special Advisor commends the measures currently being undertaken for the establishment of the Local Prosecutors’ Offices by means of transparent and competitive recruitment procedures. Furthermore, the efforts aimed at combating corruption within the prosecution service are to be praised. The fight against corruption is one of the key preconditions for the overall success of the reform. Therefore, effective functioning of the units tasked with the investigation and prosecution of corruption related offences within the prosecution system is of utmost importance. Another important measure to be implemented in this respect would be ensuring appropriate level of salaries for prosecutors, in line with their status and responsibilities.

Progressive, comprehensive, consolidated and transparent actions will bring about long-awaited changes and tangible results in the reform of the public prosecution system of Ukraine and will contribute to the restoration of public trust towards this institution. The basis for this should be first and foremost the Constitution. As mentioned in the Preliminary Opinion of the Venice Commission on Proposed Constitutional Amendments regarding the Judiciary of Ukraine (Ref. CDL-PI(2015)016), the draft amendments proposed by the relevant Working Group of the Constitutional Commission with regard to the Public Prosecutor’s Office are generally in line with the applicable European standards and the Ukrainian Parliament is strongly encouraged to adopt them.

The Council of Europe stands ready to support Ukrainian authorities in implementing the reforms in the most efficient and successful way with a view to transforming the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine into an institution that is compliant with European standards and best practices. Extensive technical assistance is planned to be further provided for this purpose under the Council of Europe Ukraine Action Plan 2015-2017.