Draft bill #10060 of September 15, 2023 

Status: signed by the President 

Who is affected: the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor General’s office 

Summary: 

The head of the SAP will: 

  • manage the SAP prosecutors instead of the Prosecutor General 
  • act as a deputy of the Prosecutor General and have access to state secrets 
  • independently define the composition of units and staff of the SAP 
  • exercise the powers of the head of the prosecutor’s office provisioned by the Criminal Procedure Code 

Appointment of SAP leadership: 

  • the Prosecutor General will appoint the head of the SAP, their first deputy, and the deputy. Head and their deputies of SAP units will be appointed by the head of the SAP after an open competition 
  • the selection committee will consist of three members nominated by the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine and three members nominated by dedicated international and foreign organizations. Members of the committee will be appointed by the Prosecutor General 
  • presence of at least four members will be required for the committee to open its session, at least two of the members present have to be nominated by international organizations. To make a decision, at least four members of the committee, including two members nominated by international organizations, must vote for the candidate 
  • the Prosecutor General will have to pick one of two candidates proposed by the selection committee and appoint the head within 3 days. 

Appointment of SAP prosecutors: 

  • will be conducted competitively 
  • the selection committee will consist of three members appointed by the head of the SAP: unilaterally and based on proposals from international organizations. 

Administrative issues: 

SAP will become a legal entity of public law, will have property, seal, and treasury accounts. This also implies the following: 

  • SAP will be separated from the Prosecutor General’s Office 
  • new units will be set up in the SAP apparatus, including the internal control unit. All of them will be subordinate to the head of the SAP. 

Evaluation of SAP’s effectiveness: 

  • every two years, but no more than twice during the term of office of the head (5 years), the SAP will undergo an audit of the effectiveness of its work 
  • the audit will be carried out by the evaluation committee. Its members will be appointed by the Prosecutor General based on proposals from dedicated international and foreign organizations 
  • a conclusion that the head of the SAP failed at performing their duties and undermined the effectiveness of the SAP will be a legitimate reason to dismiss the head. 

Changes to the criminal process: 

  • disputes about the jurisdiction in the criminal proceedings that may fall under the jurisdiction of the NABU will be resolved by the Prosecutor General or the head of the SAP 
  • the deadline for pre-trial investigation will be calculated not from the moment when the case was registered in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations but from the moment when person was notified about the suspicion 
  • the deadlines for pre-trial investigation will be removed 
  • the abolishment of pre-trial investigation terms will apply to all criminal proceedings where the pre-trial investigation or court consideration have not been completed before the new law comes into force. 

What is right: 

  • the SAP will work more efficiently 
  • Ukraine fulfills its obligations to the International Monetary Fund 
  • the Verkhovna Rada no longer has the unconstitutional power to delegate members to the selection committee for the appointment of the head of the SAP. 

What is wrong:  

  • the head of the SAP will not be able to independently submit extradition requests and launch international investigative teams 
  • the so-called “Lozovyi’s amendment,” paragraph 10 of part 1 of article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code, was not removed. It allows closing the criminal proceeding if the term of the pre-trial investigation has expired after the notice of suspicion has been issued. That does not apply to cases of grave or severe offenses against human life and health. 

Alternative solution:  

  • to remove paragraph 10 of part 1 of article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code that is used to close cases against corrupt officials 
  • give the head of the SAP the authority to independently submit requests for extradition and launch international investigative teams.