Prosecutor General Venediktova meets with representatives of Council of Europe

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova has met with representatives of the Council of Europe, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) reports.

The meeting was attended by Verena Taylor, Director of the Office of the Directorate General of Programmes of the Council of Europe, Olena Lytvynenko, acting Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, and Natia Japaridze, Project Manager of the Council of Europe Project “Human Rights Compliant Criminal Justice System in Ukraine”.

"Despite the pandemic and due to the help of our international partners, we have managed to complete the certification of regional prosecutor's offices and launch them. At the same time, no processes have been stopped and nobody has felt any inconvenience. Thus, 26 regional prosecutor's offices and four specialized in military and defense spheres operate in the regions. Last week their heads reported on the first month of their activity. Now the attestation of prosecutors of local prosecutor's offices has started and many prosecutors have said they would like to take part in it,” the press service cited Venediktova as saying.

She also noted that the guarantee of the independence of prosecutors was under threat due to the discriminatory provisions on the prosecutors’ remuneration stipulated in the draft law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2021." Representatives of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine have expressed concern about that.

In addition, the Prosecutor General reminded that the competition for the post of head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has started. The main task for everyone is to make it transparent, honest and legitimate.

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