03 Sep, 2024
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The V All-Ukrainian conference of prosecutors was held: new members of the QDCP were elected under the “integrity assessment” pilot procedure
Event
On August 27, 2024, the V All-Ukrainian conference of prosecutors was held. The conference agenda included the election of a new composition of the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine and the selection of candidates for the new composition of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors.
The conference was attended by 518 representatives from prosecutors’ offices of all levels – the Prosecutor General’s Office, regional and district prosecutor’s offices, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office – who were entrusted to represent the interests of prosecutors’ team at the conference.
Five members of the QDCP were appointed. Including:
– Nina Harbuza, Prosecutor of the Department for supervision over the observance of laws by the National Police of Ukraine and agencies, fighting against organized crime, Prosecutor General’s Office;
– Dmytro Kurylenko, prosecutor of the Department for supervision of the observance of laws by the National Police of Ukraine of Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office;
– Oleksiy Mikhed, Prosecutor of the Department for supervision over observance of laws by the State Bureau of Investigation of the Prosecutor General’s Office;
– Maksym Radzivon, Prosecutor of the Department for supervision over observance of law security authorities of the Prosecutor General’s Office;
– Tetiana Stepanova, prosecutor of the Department for criminal policy and investment protection of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
At the same time, the candidates for the QDCP members positions were selected under a pilot integrity assessment procedure. The information about them was collected from open sources.
The All-Ukrainian conference of prosecutors also appointed two members of the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine. Vasyl Prystupa (prosecutor of Khmelnytsky Regional Prosecutor’s Office) was appointed to represent regional prosecutor’s offices, and Olena Myrko was appointed to represent the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
The conference participants also approved amendments to the Code of professional ethics and conducts of Prosecutors; as well as the Regulation on the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine, the Regulation on the procedure of the competent body for conducting disciplinary proceedings; and the Rules of Procedure of the All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors.
CPLR’s assessment
The All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors is the highest body of prosecutorial self-government. The next All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors is convened every two years by the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine.
Five such conferences have already been held since the introduction of prosecutorial self-government in Ukraine in 2017:
І. April 26–27, 2017;
ІІ. December 20–21, 2018;
ІІІ. August 27–28, 2021 (postponed from March 16, 2020);
IV. February 28, 2023 (postponed from August 26, 2022), where two members of the High Council of Justice were elected;
V. August 27, 2024.
The main issue at the All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors was the re-election of the members of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors, whose three-year term of office under the prosecutor’s quota (5 out of 11 members) had expired.
Moreover, as reported by the Head of the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine A. Yezhov , this time the prosecutor’s office collected information about the candidates to the QDCP from open sources. The information about candidates to the QDCP, collected and analyzed by the experts, was compiled in reports on each candidate, which contained an objective and balanced presentation of the facts, without making assessments and conclusions about the candidates.
This step was necessary to test a pilot model for the candidates assessment at the current All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors, which will be further presented in the form of legislative amendments to meet one of the requirements set by the European Commission for Ukraine. This requirement involves the implementation of an independent and objective pre-selection procedure for all candidates for the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors, including their integrity check. The adoption of the relevant amendments to national legislation is envisaged in the Ukraine Facility Plan for 2026.
For this purpose, the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine has applied to international partners, in particular, the Council of Europe in Ukraine, the European Union Advisory Mission to Ukraine, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the EU Project “Pravo-Justice” with a request to conduct a preliminary collection of information from open sources, including under requests according to the Law of Ukraine “On access to public information” – from the Prosecutor General’s Office, regional prosecutor’s offices for delegates of the All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors.
The CPLR experts positively assess this approach. It should be mentioned that a full-fledged model for the integrity assessment of candidates for prosecutorial self-government bodies is currently being developed within the framework of the working group on strengthening the institutional capacity of the QDCP, and improving the disciplinary procedure for prosecutors and the activities of prosecutorial self-government bodies (established by the Decree of the Prosecutor General of June 25, 2024 № 156, which includes a representative of the CPLR). In the future, this tool will be introduced on a permanent basis through amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Prosecutor’s Office”.
It is also important to note that the last two conferences were held under martial law, despite all the difficulties with the delegation and the congress of prosecutors in one place to vote. Unlike the advocates, who refuse to hold a congress since September 2022, referring to the principle of continuity, which not only hinders the normal functioning of the prosecutorial self-government bodies, but also prevents the fully functioning of the High Council of Justice and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors, to which advocates delegate their representatives. The activities of the prosecutor’s office on ensuring the work of prosecutorial self-government should serve as an example for other components of the justice system.
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