Since the adoption of the Public Prosecution Service Law of Ukraine 2014, important initiatives were undertaken to advance the reform of the prosecution service and to transform it into an institution compliant with the European standards. Among others, it can be mentioned the 2016 constitutional amendments, realignment of the prosecutorial functions with the Council of Europe standards, as well as the set-up of the prosecutorial self-governing and qualification/disciplinary bodies. The establishment of the two institutions took place in mid-2017 and was an important milestone in the reform, given the role these bodies play in ensuring prosecutorial independence and effectiveness of their work.
Following these developments and in view of the long-term cooperation with the Council of Europe, a high-level visit for the Ukrainian delegation was organised to the Council of Europe’s headquarters on 17 December 2018 with the purpose of discussing the progress, challenges and future perspectives of the prosecution reform in line with the Council of Europe standards. The Ukrainian delegation was led by the Prosecutor General, Yuriy Lutsenko, and consisted of representatives of the General Prosecutor’s Office, management and members of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors and the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine.
The meetings started with the round table opened by Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General Human Rights and Rule of Law and by Ambassador Dmytro Kuleba, Permanent Representative of Ukraine before the Council of Europe. In his welcoming speech, Christos Giakoumopoulos commended the recent developments in the area of the implementation of the public prosecution service reform and called upon the continued need to implement the remaining Council of Europe recommendations. The Prosecutor General, Yuriy Lutsenko, praised the Council of Europe’s long-standing support to the reform. He underlined that despite the challenges there is a strong will from the Ukrainian side to work further towards the results. “Where there is a will – there is a way forward,” - the Prosecutor General said.
Among the core issues addressed during the round table, moderated by Regis Brillat, Special Advisor of the Council of Europe’s Secretary General for Ukraine, were topics of independence of prosecutors, effective functioning of prosecutorial self-governance and effective delineation of functions between different law enforcement institutions as a result of the reform and in the context of the set-up of new investigation bodies in Ukraine, institutional reform of the prosecution service. During the round table the Ukrainian delegation exchanged with the secretary of the Venice Commission, executive secretary of the GRECO, Heads of the Justice and Legal Cooperation Department and the Department for the Execution of the Court’s Judgments.
The visit provided the opportunity for high-level bilateral meetings of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General with the Council of Europe representatives, including the Deputy Secretary General, the Human Rights Commissioner, the Director General Human Rights and Rue of Law. During the intensive day, the delegation also had a chance to exchange views with the Section Registry and Ukrainian lawyers of the European Court of Human Rights.
All participants to the meetings reiterated their commitment to continuing the improvement of the prosecution service in Ukraine, in particular the strengthening the legal framework and the set-up of prosecutorial self-governance, as well as the enhancement of transparency and accountability of the prosecution service with a view to achieving public confidence in the institution.
The high-level visit was organised within the frames of the Council of Europe Project "Continued Support to the Criminal Justice Reform in Ukraine", funded by the Danish government.
Group photo of the Ukrainian delegation visiting Strasbourg for high-level discussions on prosecution reform in Ukraine with Council of Europe representatives. © Council of Europe
