The Council of Europe organised a visit in view of preparation of an opinion on the draft new Law of Ukraine on the Public Prosecutor`s Office

On 6 September 2013 a group of rapporteurs and members of the Secretariat of the Venice Commission as well as consultants of the Directorate of Human Rights, Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Project "Support to the Criminal Justice Reform in Ukraine", funded by the Government of Denmark, undertook a mission to Kyiv in view of preparation of a joint opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine on the Public Prosecutor`s Office. The draft law was submitted to the Venice Commission and the Directorate for expertise by the Presidential Administration of Ukraine in the beginning of August 2013.

The delegation was comprised of: Mr Thomas MARKERT, Director, Secretary of the Venice Commission, Head of Delegation; Ms Hanna SUCHOCKA, Vice-President of the Venice Commission, former Ambassador of Poland to the Holy See; Mr Kaarlo TUORI, Vice-President of the Venice Commission, Professor, University of Helsinki; Mr Peter PACZOLAY, Member of the Venice Commission, President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary; Mr Nicolae ESANU, Member of the Venice Commission, Deputy Minister of Justice of Moldova; Mr Schnutz DURR, Head of the Division of Constitutional Justice, Venice Commission; Mr Jeremy McBride, CoE consultant, barrister, former Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union; Mr Eric Svanidze, CoE consultant, former prosecutor of Georgia, former Member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in respect of Georgia

With a view to exchanging views and discussing main trends of the reform of the legal framework on the prosecution service of Ukraine, the delegation held meetings with Ukrainian authorities, including the Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada, Heads and representatives of two Committees of the Verkhovna Rada (the Committee on the Rule of Law and Justice and the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement), Advisor to the President of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the Head of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine. Meetings were held with representatives of opposition factions and civil society organisations.

The joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law on the Draft Law of Ukraine on the Public Prosecutor’s Office will be prepared on the basis of comments by the Venice Commission rapporteurs and the consultants of the Council of Europe Directorate of Human Rights. The opinion is planned to be adopted at the 96-th plenary session of the Venice Commission scheduled for 11-12 October 2013.

CoE-VC joint opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine on the Public Prosecutor`s Office (PDF, 719 Kb)