SAPO establishment

After successful selection of NABU director and staff, and its launch, it became obvious that NABU can’t really be independent without independent prosecutors, who are overseeing all cases of NABU and prosecuting them in courts. Therefore, in 2015 the new requirement to Ukraine – to establish the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) appeared in the IMF Memorandum and the EU VLAP report.

Formally such a prosecutor’s office should be a part of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), however, it should have strong autonomy and guarantees of independency.

SAPO was established by Law dated 25 April 2015. The Law on Prosecutor’s Office was amended in order to make the SAPO more independent from the Prosecutor General on 18 February 2016.

Selection commission to select SAPO management was formed in August-November 2015.

However, there was a lot of public distrust of the selection commission, which contained notorious prosecutors delegated by the PGO. Under pressure from the EU and the civil society commission’s composition was partly changed in November 2015. The commission selected the head of SAPO on 30 November 2015 and since then NABU obtained legal right to start criminal investigations as there were appointed prosecutors assigned to oversee the work of detectives and prosecute cases in courts.

SAPO prosecutors enjoy maximum independence from the Prosecutor General and his deputies, who cannot interfere with their investigations or give orders in any ways. Administrative orders given by the Prosecutor General or his deputies are executed by SAPO prosecutors only after being approved by the head of SAPO.

SAPO prosecutors’ salaries are set at no less than those of NABU department heads. SAPO should be headquartered separately from the PGO.

The head of SAPO alone may appoint or dismiss prosecutors. The appointment is done through an open and competitive selection process, held by the selection commission, which consists of the head of SAPO and individuals selected by both him and the Prosecutor General. The commission’s composition and the rules of procedure of the selection process are laid down by the head of SAPO.