The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (also ''Procurator General''; , ) heads the system of official

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

with consent of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(Ukrainian parliament). The prosecutor serves a

term of office A term of office, electoral term, or parliamentary term is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subjec ...

of six years and may be forced to resign by a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

in parliament.Chief prosecutor Shokin back to work – source

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(16 March 2016) The Prosecutor General's Office dates to 1917, established by the fledgling Ukrainian governments following the collapse of the Russian Empire, when the minister of justice held the office of prosecutor general. In 1922, it was reorganized under

socialist law Socialist law or Soviet law are terms used in comparative legal studies for the general type of legal system which has been (and continues to be) used in socialist and formerly socialist states. It is based on the civil law system, with majo ...

after the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

became a founding member of the Soviet Union. With adoption of the

1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, also known as the Stalin Constitution, was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 5 December 1936. The 1936 Constitution was the second constitution of the Soviet Union and replaced the 1924 C ...

, the office became directly subordinated to the Prosecutor General Office of the Soviet Union; this lowered the status of the office, with the prosecutor appointed by the Soviet Prosecutor General and having no government post in the Ukraine SSR. Following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine became an independent agency. The office is directly proscribed in the 1996

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

Duties and powers

The prosecutor general is appointed to office by the

president of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

with the consent of the

(parliament).Z The prosecutor is dismissed from office after serving a six-year term, or on order of the president, or the prosecutor may be forced to resign following a vote of no confidence in the Verkhovna Rada. The powers of the office (from January 2017) are to: *provide organization and leadership of pre-trial investigations; *support public prosecution in the courts; and *represent the state's interest in the courts, according to the law. The prosecutor general submits an annual report to the Verkhovna Rada about the legal situation in the country. The prosecutor general creates a collegiate council consisting of the prosecutor general, their first and other deputies, the prosecutor of the

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a ''de jure'' administrative division of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,General Inspectorate A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

is an independent agency established to oversee the actions of the prosecutorial system. Its goals are to modernize the Soviet-era bureaucracy, to enhance inter-agency efficiency and international cooperation, and to fight corruption.

Structure

Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea {{Politics of Crimea The Prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea - is a State Government Body. According to the Constitution and the Ukrainian Law, its functions at the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are prosecution, representa ...

*Prosecutor's Office of Cherkasy Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Chernihiv Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Chernivtsi Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Donetsk Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Kharkiv Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Kherson Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Khmelnytskyi Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Kirovohrad Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv City *Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Luhansk Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Lviv Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Mykolaiv Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Odesa Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Poltava Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Rivne Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Sumy Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Ternopil Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Vinnytsia Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Volyn Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Zakarpattia Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Zaporizhia Oblast *Prosecutor's Office of Zhytomyr Oblast *Military Prosecutor's Office of Joint Forces *Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Central Region *Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Southern Region *Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Western Region *

National Academy of Prosecution of Ukraine National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Separate organizations

Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (, САП, SAPO) is an independent structural unit of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and is primarily responsible for supporting and overseeing criminal investigations launched by the ...

* Military Prosecutor * General Inspectorate * Primary Trade Union Organization of the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine employees

Leadership

* Prosecutor General –

Iryna Venediktova Iryna Valentynivna Venediktova (born 21 September 1978) is a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, lawyer, Doctor of the Science of Law, professor. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Swiss Confederation and the Principalit ...

(17 March 2020) * Deputy Prosecutor General – Viktor Trepak (8 October 2019) * Deputy Prosecutor General – Günduz Mamedov (18 October 2019) * Deputy Prosecutor General—Director of Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office – Nazar Kholodnytskyi (30 November 2015)

History

Early period

The post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine was first established in 1917, following the dissolution of the Russian Empire. When the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

was formed – after Ukraine declared its independence from the

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federative Republic in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...

due to the Bolshevik's aggression – the post was held by the minister of justice.

Soviet period

After the occupation of Ukraine by Bolsheviks in June 1922, the Prosecutor's Office of the Ukrainian SSR was established. The prosecutor general was appointed by the Ukrainian government and remained merged with the minister of justice until the

came into force, at which point the republican prosecution office of Ukraine was subordinated to the prosecutor general of the USSR.

Post-Soviet period

Following Ukrainian independence in 1991, the prosecutor general wielded considerable power as a legacy of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

state prosecutor's office. Many of the office's functions were expanded in 1991, but in 2016 the powers of the office were decreased and limited. Prior to January 2017, the term of authority of the prosecutor was five years. Since January 2017 this was increased to six years. This list below shows prosecutors of independent Ukraine. In the absence of the prosecutor general, the office is headed by their first deputy as the acting prosecutor general.

Notes

References

External links

Law of Ukraine "On Prosecutor"s Office"

Prosecutor General's Office website {{DEFAULTSORT:General Prosecutor Of Ukraine Judiciary of Ukraine, Prosecutor * Independent agencies of the Ukrainian government Presidency of Ukraine