Skopje, 13 June 2024 (MIA) — The Ministry of Justice's workgroup on Amending and Supplementing the Law on the Public Prosecutor's Office has detected the flaws of the current law and most of them are regarding disciplinary procedures, dismissing public prosecutors, prosecutors' competences as well as hierarchy and subordination principles, the Ministry of Justice said in a press release.

"With the proposed updates to the provisions on the disciplinary responsibility of public prosecutors, an effort has been made to overcome the detected anomalies on the basis of similar experiences and practices of European countries that have proven to be good solutions as well as through the implementation of international recommendations and standards (of the EU, GRECO, the Council of Europe, etc.)," ​​the release says.

"Regarding disciplinary measures, it is an open question whether the dismissal of public prosecutors should remain part of the disciplinary measures listed in the law or whether it should be a completely separate category. Comparative law recognizes both options," the release adds.

In addition to the provisions on disciplinary responsibility, the workgroup recently considered proposals related to prosecutors' competences, status and organization. Next, the workgroup will prepare and submit draft provisions for other parts of the Law on the PPO.

Since it was formed, the workgroup has held nine working meetings. Invited to these meetings were representatives of embassies and other organizations, with the Rule of Law Project and the OSCE Mission representatives regularly participating and offering their support, the Ministry of Justice said. mr/