Chentsov Sees No Need or Way to Hold Contest for Prosecutor General

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vsevolod Chentsov said he sees neither a need nor a possibility to choose Ukraine's prosecutor general through a competition, pointing to the absence of such an EU requirement and of matching European practice. He spoke in an interview with Evropeiska Pravda.

Chentsov said he sees experts calling for a competition, but “it is not written in the EU requirements” and “there is no such European practice either.” He said Council of Europe experts have made proposals that clearly stress following the Constitution of Ukraine, which sets out the roles of the president and the Verkhovna Rada in the process.

Transparency versus competence

How to ensure a transparent, merit-based selection remains a subject of discussion, the deputy prime minister added. “But personally I see neither the necessity nor the possibility of holding a competition for this post. A balance must be found between political independence and the person's competence. That is how it works in European systems,” he said.

Background

In June, Anastasiia Radina, who chairs the parliamentary committee on anti-corruption policy, said a bill on competitive selection of the prosecutor general had been submitted to parliament, noting that some EU member states use this approach. See more in Politics.