“Eurosolidarity” Pushes to Reinstate Competitive Hiring in Prosecutor’s Office, Canceled by Controversial Law 12414
Members of the European Solidarity faction have launched an initiative to reinstate competitive selection for positions within the prosecutor’s office—a procedure that was abolished by the adoption of the widely criticized Law No. 12414.
This was reported by the press service of Eurosolidarity.
People’s Deputy and Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration with the European Union, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, announced a legislative initiative to restore competitive selection for positions in the prosecutor’s office—one of Ukraine’s European integration commitments that had already been fulfilled but was revoked by the controversial Law No. 12414.
“With Law 12414, the government not only undermined the independence of NABU and SAPO. It also eliminated the competitive selection process for prosecutors. Moreover, the law allows prosecutors to be arbitrarily dismissed under the pretext of restructuring certain departments,” Klympush-Tsintsadze stated.
She reminded that although President Zelensky submitted Bill No. 13533 to ostensibly restore the previous legal framework, it contains significant gaps.
“One of the critical omissions is the failure to reinstate competitive selection for prosecutors. This mechanism was excluded from the President’s bill. Our faction will submit a separate draft law by the end of today. I am grateful to my colleagues from European Solidarity who have signed on, as well as to members of other factions who are now joining. I invite all remaining MPs to do so by 6 p.m. today,” said the Committee Chair.
Klympush-Tsintsadze emphasized that the proposed legislation aims to fix another major “error” by reinstating competitive hiring for prosecutors and preventing arbitrary dismissals masked as organizational changes.
The provisions introduced by Law 12414 take us back to the Yanukovych era, ” Klympush-Tsintsadze said. “Today, the rules for hiring and dismissing prosecutors resemble the practices in place before 2014. The European Union had previously recognized Ukraine’s implementation of competitive selection for prosecutors. That progress has now been reversed, and we are working to restore this principle in Ukrainian legislation.”
She also highlighted the strong reaction from the European Commission and Ukraine’s international partners following the adoption of Law 12414.
“These developments mean our European partners will now closely scrutinize Ukraine’s next steps—not only regarding the independence of NABU and SAPO, but also broader reforms related to the judiciary, the rule of law, and anti-corruption measures,” she said. “As EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has already noted, restoring NABU and SAPO’s independence is essential—but it is only one part of a larger process.
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