“The annual progress reports of the Prosecutor’s Office have been made public by being placed on the official website since 2004, when there was no imperative legal obligation in his regard. Namely this enabled the institution to ensure transparency in its activity,” the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) said in response to a statement issued by civil society organizations concerning the recent amendments made to the law on the prosecution service by which the obligation to examine the annual report in Parliament and to place it on the official website was removed, IPN reports.
According to the PGO, later the tendency was developed and adjusted to the international standards by introducing different forms of informing society about the daily work of prosecutors, including syntheses and periodical reports on all the areas of institutional competence. The institution noted it will continue to develop this practice and to publish its activity reports, maintaining the tendency to remain among the most transparent public institutions.
The PGO also said the public report will continue to be examined in the General Assembly of Prosecutors and the press will have access to that meeting, as earlier. The report will be later placed on the PGO’s website. As to the examination of the report in Parliament, the given exercise is improper for many states with advanced democracies as an institution of the judicial system, in principle, cannot be subject to control by the legislative power, including by reports on its work.
The PGO assured the representatives of the NGOs that expressed concerns in this regard that they will continue to have full access to its progress reports so that the institution is also able to apply for foreign financing for projects related to its activity in the future.
A number of civil society organizations on January 16 issued a statement whereby they express their concerns about the exclusion of the obligation to examine the annual report of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Parliament and to publish it on the official website of the institution. The 18 SCOs called on the future legislative body to reinsert the given norms in the text of the law on the prosecution service.
