17 December, 2019
At the meeting of December 16, the Council for the Judiciary approved amendments to the laws intended to change the procedure for nominating a candidate for the position of Prosecutor General by transferring this responsibility under the competence of the Council for the Judiciary. So far, the candidates for the position of the Prosecutor General for approval in the Saeima (parliament) were nominated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, coordinating his decision with the Council for the Judiciary.
Furthermore, the Council for the Judiciary is entitled to initiate an investigation regarding the dismissal of the Prosecutor General.
The Council for the Judiciary also endorsed the proposal that candidates for the position of Prosecutor General be selected through open competition.
The Council for the Judiciary did not support the proposal to set up a panel of experts to assess the suitability of a candidate for the position of Prosecutor General.
The proposal to expand the list of potential candidates for the position of Prosecutor General, which provides that a person having 15-year total length of service as an academic staff or lawyer can be appointed as the Prosecutor General, is also not supported. The majority of the members of the Council for the Judiciary questioned the ability of a person to run the prosecution office if the candidate had not worked as a judge or prosecutor and had not passed an examination for judges or prosecutors.
The Council for the Judiciary clarified the condition that the same person may not serve as a chief prosecutor for more than two consecutive terms. The Council for the Judiciary clarified the provision of the law, stating that it provides for one and the same office of the prosecutor.
A meeting of the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee of the Saeima to discuss these amendments is scheduled for Wednesday, December 18.
Information prepared by
Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court
E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211