Kyiv, July 30, 2015. As part of the Prosecutor’s Office reforms, competition for the post of head of prosecutor’s offices at the local level is open across Ukraine. “It is an unprecedented case when candidates for high-level posts in the prosecution system which are approximately 700 through the country are chosen through open competition,” said David Sakvaleridze, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. Applications from 1,300 external candidates to the posts of heads of local prosecutor’s offices, not counting actual prosecutors, have been submitted, said Sakvaleridze.
According to Sakvaleridze, any lawyer with five years of experience can apply to as a local prosecutor or deputy prosecutor. Internal candidates, employees of the Prosecutor’s Office, with over three years of experience can also apply. To select the best-qualified candidates, evaluation centers were opened in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk. These centers also cover adjacent regions, explained Sakvaleridze.
According to the competition conditions, candidates need to pass tests demonstrating professional knowledge. The general knowledge test, logical aptitude test, and interviews will begin in mid August. “The interviews are to be conducted online in five evaluation centers. A camera will be on so that the wide audience will be able to watch it,” explained Sakvarelidze.
The application deadline was supposed to end on August 2 but was extended to August 10 due to the large number of applications. Tentatively selections will be made by mid December and will be followed by staffing of lower level employees. “We address all professionals and enthusiasts who were waiting to get to managerial positions with the Prosecutor’s Office without nepotism and corruption, change the system for the best and return trust to prosecution authorities. It is an open competition where there is no corruption, where a fair selection procedure will be secured,” emphasized Sakvarelidze.
Serhiy Hrebenyuk, advocate and head of the Kyiv branch of the Lawyers Association of Ukraine, noted that prosecutors are becoming increasingly open more due to the new selection process. “Seventy percent of prosecution management is to be actually renewed. No law enforcement agency is currently conducting such a large-scale reform,” noted Hrebenyuk.
Tymofiy Garkushyn, a prosecutor at the control department for work quality of prosecution authorities within the Office of the Prosecutor General said that he passed the open competition to take up his position. “I had an opportunity to experience myself the reform of the prosecution authorities, I took part in the competition and passed in an open and transparent way,” he said.
