Proposed amendments to the federal law to change the procedures for appointing procuratorial officers

In the process of implementing the new Russian Federation Constitution, the president of the Russian Federation, on 21 July 2014, introduced a bill in the Sate Duma titled “Amendments to the Federal Law ‘On the Procuratorship of the Russian Federation.

The bill amends the requirements for the posts of the procurator (prosecutor) general, his deputies, procurators of the constituent elements of the Russian Federation, municipal and district procurators, as well as the procurators equivalent to them. The purpose is to eliminate inconsistencies with the constitution regarding the appointment of public procurators.

The draft law establishes additional requirements for candidates to the post of procurator general. A person should not be younger than 35 years and should have more than ten years of experience in supervisory positions that earn class rankings. The age requirement for procurators at the constituent level of the Russian Federation remains unchanged, but the requirement has been increased from five to seven years of service in a procurator’s office in a position that earns class rankings.

The amendments increase the age requirement for the municipal and district prucurators as well as their equivalents from 25 to 27 years, and applicants should serve at least five years in a procuratorial office. However, these positions can go to those who are younger if they have at least five years of service in positions that have earned class rankings in procurator offices or if they have experience in governmental positions requiring a higher legal education.

The bill also changes the procedures for appointing and dismissing the deputy procurator general. With the adoption of the draft law, the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation will appoint and dismiss the deputy procurator general upon the recommendation of the president of the Russian Federation. In the present version of the law, the procurator general of the Russian Federation recommends candidates to the Council of the Federation.

The draft federal law provides for the participation of the president of the Russian Federation in the appointment and dismissal of procurators of the constituent elements of the Russian Federation and equivalent procurators. In contrast to current procedures, in the future, the president of the Russian Federation will appoint the procurators based on the recommendation of the procurator general and in agreement with the constituent element of the Russian Federation.

The procedure for appointing and dismissing municipal, district, and equivalent procurators will remain the same. The relevant procurators must have the approval of the procurator general of the Russian Federation.

The draft law sets forth a five-year term for the procurators of constituent elements of the Russian Federation, for municipal and district procurators, and for equivalent procurators. Based on evaluations, the procurator general of the Russian Federation can apply to the president of the Russian Federation to extend the term of procurators of the constituent elements of the Russian Federation and equivalent procurators, and the procurator general can decide on his own to extend the term of municipal and district as well as their equivalent procurators. In all cases, the extension of will be for five years, but the draft law does not state if terms can be extended more than once.

The draft law also provides for reductions in the powers of the procurator general of the Russian Federation to impose disciplinary sanctions on certain types of procuratorial employees. For example, he will not be able to lower the class ranks of procurators who had received their rank from the president of the Russian Federation.

The intent of the amendments is to reduce the independence of the procurator general within the procuratorial system and to limit his role in personnel decisions. We believe that the proposed amendments can have a positive influence on the independence of the procurators of the constituent elements of the Russian Federation and of the equivalent procurators. It will reduce the possibility of interference of the procurator general’s office on the procurators at the lower levels, thereby providing additional guarantees that they can fulfill their functions.