26 January 2008, 10:35
Resulting from their deliberations, Committee Members resolved to recommend to The Economic Policy Committee that it suggests that The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approves the Programme of Activities of The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Reg.No.1360) with the obligatory taking into account the proposal of the Committee on the exclusion of several provisions from Paragraph 2.3, ‘Fair, Unbiased and Accessible Court Procedures´, Part II of the Programme.
The first of these concerns cancellation of the general supervision function. People´s Deputies noted that following the amendments to The Constitution of Ukraine in 2006, the notion of ‘functions of general supervision´ no longer exists.
Committee Members are also opposed to inclusion of The Prosecutor´s Office within the System of Justice Bodies. This is in contradiction to the Constitutional principles of building a Jural State and The Supremacy of Law, and independence of The Prosecutor´s Office, and could destroy the system of constraints and counterbalances in all branches of power, thus impairing the depolitization process within The Prosecutor´s Office.
The Committee insists that the provision envisaging the separation of the investigation of criminal cases from the Terms of Reference of the Prosecutor´s Office is excluded from the Draft Programme, as this is in discrepancy with The Constitution of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the basic International documents on the role of the Prosecutor in the criminal process (PACE Recommendations No. 1604 issued in 2003 and PACE Cabinet of Ministers' Recommendations No.19 issued in 2000) also require that Prosecutors are provided with an opportunity to conduct investigations in criminal cases, and oversee the Pre-Trial investigations, or conduct them directly.