Draft Law No. 15343 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Strengthening the Independence of the Position of the Prosecutor General," authored by former activist of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, now People's Deputy Anastasia Radina, under the banner of European integration, may not strengthen the independence of the prosecutor's office, but on the contrary – create mechanisms for control over the procedure for appointing the Prosecutor General and preconditions for promoting a candidate loyal to certain influence groups. This opinion was expressed by former prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Stanislav Bronievitskyi.
According to him, the proposed changes effectively transfer the key personnel decision from the President and the Verkhovna Rada to the Competition Commission and the High Council of Justice, which is not provided for by the Constitution of Ukraine.
"The President will be able to choose only from two candidates previously selected by the Commission," Bronievitskyi noted.
He drew particular attention to the significant expansion of the powers of the High Council of Justice, which is proposed to be vested with functions that traditionally do not fall within its competence.
In particular, it is proposed to grant the HCJ the right to form a competition commission for the selection of the Prosecutor General, conduct disciplinary proceedings against him, and initiate dismissal in certain cases.
"In fact, the HCJ will have a decisive influence on the entire composition of the competition commission: it will directly determine three members, and another three – from candidates proposed by international and foreign organizations of the EU," emphasized the former SAPO prosecutor.
He also pointed out the risk of blocking the very process of appointing the Prosecutor General. According to his assessment, after the Verkhovna Rada refuses to support two candidates, the procedure can be restarted an unlimited number of times, creating a risk of the prosecutor's office bodies functioning for a long time without a full-fledged head.
Furthermore, the draft law limits the term of acting Prosecutor General to six months, but does not provide an answer to the question of what will happen after this period expires if the competition is not completed.
Bronievitskyi also criticized the qualification requirements for candidates.
In his opinion, the proposed model allows the participation of persons with general management experience, including representatives of international organizations, without mandatory practice in the field of criminal justice, procedural guidance, or work in prosecutor's office bodies.
At the same time, the competition commission receives excessive discretion when assessing the integrity of candidates.
"The conclusions of competent national or international bodies are not binding for the commission. In fact, a new Kryvonos could be recommended for the position," he remarked.
Separately, the former SAPO prosecutor criticized the provision that provides for the possibility of expressing no confidence in the Prosecutor General due to health reasons.
In his conviction, health status may be grounds for termination of powers, but not for applying the no-confidence procedure, which has a negative political and reputational connotation.
"The draft law is incomplete, internally contradictory, and does not ensure either the guaranteed appointment of the Prosecutor General or a transparent selection of the most competent candidate," Bronievitskyi concluded.
Recall that earlier Bronievitskyi reported that Semen Kryvonos, appointed in 2023 as the Director of NABU, twice failed a polygraph and concealed information about fictitious paternity, which allowed him to avoid punishment for corruption crimes in court. Despite this, he was still determined by the international commission as an integrity candidate for the position of director of the anti-corruption bureau.
The international commission included Drago Kos, the brother of Marta Kos - the European Commissioner for Enlargement, who demands that Ukraine carry out reforms. As Bronievitskyi noted, Drago Kos agreed to help in exchange for promoting the business of one of the European companies in Ukraine — manufacturers of armored film.