Another nuance: under the new law, prosecutors will be appointed without competition
24 July 12:00
The newly adopted law of Ukraine, which makes NABU and SAPO subordinate to the Prosecutor General, has another interesting feature – it significantly simplifies the procedure for appointing prosecutors during martial law. This was reported by the Judicial and Legal Newspaper, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
No competition is required
According to the newspaper’s analysis, the new transitional provisions of the law on the prosecutor’s office stipulate that during martial law, prosecutors from lower levels may be appointed to the positions of prosecutors in the Prosecutor General’s Office and regional prosecutor’s offices without a mandatory competition. Previously, Article 38 of the law required a competition for transfer to a higher-level prosecutor’s office.
In addition, persons who had not worked as prosecutors at all as of the date the new law came into force may now be appointed to these positions. The main condition is that they must meet the standard requirements for candidates: have a university degree, the necessary work experience, speak the state language, etc., as set out in Article 27 of the law on the prosecutor’s office.
The appointment procedure is as simple as possible – just submit an application. Persons without prosecutorial experience must submit documents in accordance with Article 30 of the law and undergo a special check in accordance with anti-corruption legislation.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko praised the new opportunities.
“I am grateful to the MPs that at least now, during the war, it will be possible to recruit people – after graduation, other law enforcement officers, former law enforcement officers. This will strengthen the work of the prosecutor’s office. It will be possible to clean out those corrupt officials who are in the ranks of the prosecutor’s office and at the same time recruit people with new strength to fulfill our tasks,”
– he said.
Other innovations
In parallel, the law amended the Criminal Procedure Code. In particular, the list of officials subject to a special procedure for criminal proceedings has been expanded. The following officials have been added to the list:
- heads of presidential auxiliary bodies and their deputies
- the Prime Minister
- members of the government
- deputy ministers;
- civil servants of category “A”;
- the leadership of the State Bureau of Investigation and the BES.
The Prosecutor General (acting Prosecutor General) shall notify the above categories of persons in writing of suspicion.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
What else you need to know about the law
Full title of the law: On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the peculiarities of pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses related to the disappearance of persons under special circumstances during martial law.
The draft law was initiated by MPs Maksym Pavliuk, Viacheslav Medianyk, Oleksandr Bakumov, and Serhiy Minko.
The document was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on January 16, 2025. On April 29, the bill was adopted as a basis. On Tuesday, July 22, the law was adopted (263 MPs pressed the green button), and the President of Ukraine signed it the same day.
Officially, the document concerns changes to the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the investigation of disappearances under special circumstances during martial law. However, it was amended to effectively subordinate the NABU and the SAPO to the Prosecutor General.
In particular, the law gives the Prosecutor General the following powers
- access to all NABU cases and delegate this access to other prosecutors;
- provide written instructions to NABU detectives and change the jurisdiction of cases;
- to independently resolve disputes over jurisdiction and sign suspicions to top officials;
- exclusively decide who is part of the group of prosecutors, depriving the head of the SAPO of this right;
- to close investigations at the request of the defense.
The NABU and the SAPO stated that these changes threaten the independence of the agencies and turn them into subdivisions of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Protests were held in many cities across Ukraine. Critics of the document argue that it curtails the fight against corruption in Ukraine, returns the country to dictatorship and jeopardizes European integration. The European Union has already expressed its concern.
President Zelenskyy has since said that he will submit a new bill to parliament that will address the shortcomings of the decision.
Searches at NABU and SAPO
On the eve of the law’s adoption, massive searches took place at the NABU and the SAPO. The SBU claimed to have exposed a mole who was spying for the FSB. The bureau called it a manipulation, noting that they themselves had reported the suspicion to the SBU back in 2023.
Two NABU employees were also detained, including Ruslan Magamedrasulov, head of the Interregional Detective Department. He is associated with the fugitive MP from the OPFL, Fedir Khrystenko, who is suspected of treason.
The SBU claims that confidential NABU documents were found during the searches of Khrystenko’s place.
The accusation of Russian influence on the NABU was the main argument of the initiators of the bill.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
