Prosecutor General of Ukraine
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The prosecutor general of Ukraine (also procurator general of Ukraine, Ukrainian: Генеральний прокурор України) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (Ukrainian: Офіс Генерального прокурора). In 1991 the post was inherited from the socialist law state. The term of authority of the prosecutor is six years.[4] The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by the president with parliamentary consent.[5] Parliament can force the prosecutor general to resign after a vote of no-confidence.[5]
| Генеральна прокуратура України | |
Seal of the prosecutor general | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1917[1] June 1922[1] (reorganization) March 1936[1] (reorganization) 5 November 1991 (reorganization) |
| Jurisdiction | Constitution of Ukraine |
| Headquarters | 13/15, Riznytska st, Kyiv[2] |
| Motto | "Закон. Честь. Гідність." ("Law. Honour. Dignity.") |
| Employees | 15,000 (2017) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | Official website |
The current prosecutor general since 27 July 2022 is Andriy Kostin.[6]
There are seven more additional deputies to the prosecutor general.[citation needed] The Prosecution General Office is a state institution that is directly proscribed in the Constitution of Ukraine along with the Cabinet of Ukraine, the Constitutional court of Ukraine, the Supreme Court, the Verkhovna Rada, and the President of Ukraine.
Since its establishment in 1917/18, the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine was subordinated to the Government of Ukraine, while the prosecutor general held the post of the minister of justice.[7] In 1922 it was reorganized under socialist law after the Soviet occupation of Ukraine.[7] With adaptation of the Stalin's Constitution of 1936/37, the office's subordination changed and, instead of being subordinated to the government of Ukraine, it was directly subordinated to the Prosecutor General Office of the Soviet Union.[7] The status of the office was lowered and no longer held any posts in the government of the union republic.[7] With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine exists as an independent agency.[7]
Definition
The Office of the Prosecutor General is entrusted with:
- prosecution in court on behalf of the State;
- representation of the interests of a citizen or of the State in court in cases determined by law;
- supervision of the observance of laws by bodies that conduct detective and search activity, inquiry and pre-trial investigation;
- supervision of the observance of laws in the execution of judicial decisions in criminal cases, and also in the application of other measures of coercion related to the restraint of personal liberty of citizens.
The prosecutor general is appointed to office by the president of Ukraine with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament).[8] The prosecutor is dismissed from office by the president.[8] The Verkhovna Rada may express no confidence in the prosecutor which will results, after a required number of votes is achieved,[5] in their resignation from office.[8]
Duties and powers
Both in theory and in practice, the prosecutor general and their office wield considerable power.[9] (For instance, only the prosecutor general and the chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine may file requests to the Verkhovna Rada to withhold the immunity of deputies from detainment or arrest.) This is a legacy of the Soviet Union state prosecutor's office founded in 1937 of which the current Prosecutor General Office is the successor.[9] After Ukraine's independence in 1991, many of the Prosecutor General Office functions were expanded.[9] In 2016 the powers of the Prosecutor General Office were decreased and (starting in January 2017[4]) limited[9] to:
- Organization and leadership of pre-trial investigations;[9]
- Support of public prosecution in the courts;[9] and
- Representation of the state's interest in the courts, according to the law.[9]
On annual basis, the prosecutor general has to report to the Verkhovna Rada about the legal situation in the country.
The prosecutor general creates a collegiate council consisting out of the prosecutor general, their first and other deputies, the prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea[nb 1], and other leaders of prosecution agencies.
The independent agency General Inspectorate oversees "the legality of actions undertaken by prosecutors and investigators of the whole prosecution system".[13]
Structure
As of 21 December 2019[update][14]
- Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
- Prosecutor's Office of Cherkasy Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Chernihiv Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Chernivtsi Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Donetsk Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Kharkiv Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Kherson Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Khmelnytskyi Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Kirovohrad Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv City
- Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Luhansk Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Lviv Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Mykolaiv Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Odesa Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Poltava Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Rivne Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Sumy Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Ternopil Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Vinnytsia Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Volyn Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Zakarpattia Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Zaporizhia Oblast
- Prosecutor's Office of Zhytomyr Oblast
- Military Prosecutor's Office of Joint Forces
- Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Central Region
- Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Southern Region
- Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Western Region
- National Academy of Prosecution of Ukraine
Separate organizations
- Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office
- Military Prosecutor
- General Inspection
- Primary Trade Union Organization of the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine employees
Leadership
- Prosecutor General – Iryna Venediktova (17 March 2020)
- Deputy Prosecutor General – Viktor Trepak (8 October 2019)
- Deputy Prosecutor General – Günduz Mamedov (18 October 2019)
- Deputy Prosecutor General—Director of Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office – Nazar Kholodnytskyi (30 November 2015)
History
Early period
The post of Prosecutor General appeared back in 1917. After Ukraine declared its independence from the Russian Republic due to the Bolshevik's aggression and became the Ukrainian People's Republic, the post was held by the minister of justice.[1]
| # | Term[1] | Name |
| x | 1917 — 1918 | Dmytro Markovych |
| 1 | Serhiy Shelukhin | |
| x | Mykhailo Chubynskyi | |
| x | Oleksiy Romanov | |
| 2 | Andriy Viazlov | |
| 3 | Viktor Reinbot |
Soviet period
After the occupation of Ukraine by Bolsheviks in June 1922 there was established the Prosecutor's Office of the Ukrainian SSR.[1][15] In the early years of the Ukrainian SSR, the office of prosecutor general was merged with the minister of justice until spring 1936. From 1937 to 1991 the republican prosecution office of Ukraine was subordinated to the prosecutor general of the USSR. Until 1937 the prosecutor general of Ukraine was appointed by the higher bodies of state power of Ukraine.
| # | Term[1] | Name | Official title |
| 1 | 1922 — 1927 | Mykola Skrypnyk | Procurator General |
| 2 | 1927 — 1930 | Vasyl Poraiko | Procurator General |
| 3 | 1930 — 1933 | Vasiliy Polyakov | Procurator General |
| 4 | 1933 — 1935 | Mikhail Mikhailik | Procurator General |
| 5 | 1935 — 1936 | Arkadiy Kiselyov | Procurator General |
| 6 | 1936 | Grigoriy Zhelyeznogorskiy | Procurator General |
| 7 | 1938 — 1944 | Leonid Yachenin | Procurator |
| 8 | 1944 — 1953 | Roman Rudenko | Procurator |
| 9 | 1953 — 1963 | Denys Panasyuk | Procurator |
| 10 | 1963 — 1983 | Fedir Hlukh | Procurator |
| 11 | 1983 — 1990 | Petro Osypenko | Procurator |
List of prosecutors general
| Prosecutor General of Ukraine Генеральний прокурор України | |
|---|---|
| Appointer | President of Ukraine with parliamentary consent |
| Term length | Six years |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution Article 122 |
| Inaugural holder | Dmytro Markevych (originally) / Viktor Shyshkin (acting) |
| Formation | Jan 18, 1918 (originally) / Nov 5, 1991 (post-declaration) |
| Deputy | First Deputy |
| Website | www.gp.gov.ua |
This list shows prosecutors of independent Ukraine. In the absence of the prosecutor general, the office is headed by their first deputy as the acting prosecutor general.
Prior to January 2017, the term of authority of the prosecutor was five years.[4] Since January 2017 this was increased to six years.[4]
| # | Prosecutor General of Ukraine | Name |
| 1 | September 4, 1991 — October 21, 1993 | Viktor Shyshkin |
| 2 | October 21, 1993 — October 19, 1995 | Vladyslav Datsiuk |
| 3 | October 19, 1995 — July 22, 1997 | Hryhoriy Vorsinov |
| act | July 22, 1997 — April 24, 1998 | Oleh Lytvak |
| act | April 24, 1998 — July 17, 1998 | Bohdan Ferents |
| 4 | July 17, 1998 — May 30, 2002 | Mykhailo Potebenko |
| May 30, 2002 — July 6, 2002 | unknown | |
| 5 | July 6, 2002 — October 29, 2003 | Sviatoslav Piskun |
| October 29, 2003 — November 8, 2003 | unknown | |
| 6 | November 8, 2003 — December 9, 2004 | Hennadiy Vasylyev |
| 7 | December 10, 2004 — October 14, 2005 | Sviatoslav Piskun |
| October 14, 2005 — November 4, 2005 | unknown | |
| 8 | November 4, 2005 — April 26, 2007 | Oleksandr Medvedko |
| 9 | April 26, 2007 — May 24, 2007 | Sviatoslav Piskun |
| act | May 24, 2007 — June 1, 2007 | Viktor Shemchuk |
| 10 | June 1, 2007 — November 3, 2010 | Oleksandr Medvedko |
| 11 | November 4, 2010 — February 22, 2014 | Viktor Pshonka |
| comm | February 22, 2014 — February 24, 2014 | Oleh Makhnitsky[16] |
| act | February 24, 2014[17] — June 18, 2014[18] | Oleh Makhnitsky(1) |
| 12 | June 19, 2014[19] — February 11, 2015 | Vitaly Yarema |
| 13 | February 11, 2015[20] — March 29, 2016[21](2) | Viktor Shokin |
| act | March 29, 2016(3) — 12 May 2016 | Yuriy Sevruk |
| 14 | May 12, 2016 — August 29, 2019[22] | Yuriy Lutsenko |
| 15 | August 29, 2019 — March 5, 2020[22] | Ruslan Riaboshapka |
| act | March 6, 2020 – March 17, 2020 | Viktor Chumak |
| 16 | March 17, 2020 until suspended on July 17, 2022 | Iryna Venediktova[3] |
| act | July 17, 20222 – July 27, 2022 | Oleksiy Symonenko[23] |
| 17 | Since July 27, 2022[6] | Andriy Kostin[6] |
Legend:
- act — acting
- comm — parliamentary commissioner
Notes:
- ^(1) Makhnitskyi served as acting prosecutor by being appointed by the acting president of Ukraine. Makhnitskyi is also the only head of the office in the post-Soviet Ukraine who served as a parliamentary commissioner.
- ^(2) Shokin was set to be formally dismissed since February 16, 2016[5][24] after submitting a letter of resignation and taking a vacation.[25] On March 16 Shokin returned to his duties as if he never submitted any letters of resignation.[26] He was formally dismissed in a parliamentary vote on 29 March 2016.[27]
- ^(3) Yuriy Sevruk served as acting prosecutor being the first deputy general prosecutor until the official appointment of a new Prosecutor General.[26]
See also
Notes
- ^ Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the status of the Crimea and of the city of Sevastopol is under dispute between Russia and Ukraine; Ukraine and the majority of the international community considers the Crimea and Sevastopol an integral part of Ukraine, while Russia, on the other hand, considers the Crimea and Sevastopol an integral part of Russia, with Sevastopol functioning as a federal city within the Crimean Federal District.[10][11][12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h . Prosecutor's Office of Mykolaiv Region.
- ^ . 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
- ^ a b Ukrainian Investigative Director Who Clashed With Activists Approved As Prosecutor-General, Radio Free Europe (March 17, 2020)
- ^ a b c d (in Ukrainian) The law on the High Council of Justice earned, Ukrayinska Pravda (5 January 2016)
- ^ a b c d Chief prosecutor Shokin back to work – source, Interfax-Ukraine (16 March 2016)
- ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference
July 27, 2022 prosecutorwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e ГЕНЕРАЛЬНИЙ ПРОКУРОР УКРАЇНИ.
- ^ a b c Chief prosecutor Shokin on leave – PGO, Interfax-Ukraine (17 February 2016)
- ^ a b c d e f g Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine passed: Ukraine takes a major step towards a European System of Justice, Lexology (9 June 2016)
- ^ Gutterman, Steve (18 March 2014). "Putin signs Crimea treaty, will not seize other Ukraine regions". Reuters.com. from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ^ Ukraine crisis timeline, BBC News
- ^ UN General Assembly adopts resolution affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity 2018-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, China Central Television (28 March 2014)
- ^ U.S. prosecutor tasked with selecting officers to oversee prosecutors' actions, UNIAN (9 August 2016)
- ^ . Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine
- ^ Fedir Hlukh. The Prosecutor's Office of the Ukrainian SSR (ПРОКУРАТУРА УРСР). Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia.
- ^ On appointment of Makhnitsky O.I. the Commissioner to monitor the activities of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. RESOLUTION of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine № 760-VII. February 22, 2014
- ^ On appointment of O.Makhnitsky as acting General Prosecutor of Ukraine. DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE № 91/2014. February 24, 2014
- ^ Ukrainian president dismisses Makhnitsky as acting prosecutor general, Interfax-Ukraine (18 June 2014)
- ^ MPs agree to Yarema's appointment as prosecutor general, Interfax-Ukraine (19 June 2014)
- ^ Ukrainian parliament backs nomination of Shokin as prosecutor general, Interfax-Ukraine (10 February 2015)
- ^ Rada agreed to dismiss Shokin. Ukrayinska Pravda. 29 March 2016
- ^ a b The new Attorney General was a former NAPC member, Ukrayinska Pravda (29 August 2019)
- ^ "Указ Президента України No 501/2022 – Про покладення виконання обов'язків Генерального прокурора'" [Presidential decree No. 501/2022 – On taking over the duties of the Prosecutor General]. Office of the President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 2022-07-17. from the original on 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
- ^ Profile committee recommends parliament back prosecutor general's resignation, Interfax-Ukraine (16 March 2016)
- ^ . Ukrayinska Pravda. 29 March 2016
- ^ a b . Ukrayinska Pravda. 29 March 2016
- ^ Rada agrees to dismiss Ukrainian Prosecutor General Shokin, Interfax-Ukraine (29 March 2016)
External links
- Law of Ukraine "On Prosecutor"s Office"
- History. Prosecutor General's Office website