The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (, ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by the president with consent of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament). The prosecutor serves a term of office of six years and may be forced to resign by a vote of no confidence in parliament.Chief prosecutor Shokin back to work – source, Interfax-Ukraine (16 March 2016)

The Prosecutor General's Office dates to 1917, established by the fledgling Ukrainian governments following the collapse of the Russian Empire, when the minister of justice held the office of prosecutor general. In 1922, it was reorganized under socialist law after the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became a founding member of the Soviet Union. With adoption of the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, the office became directly subordinated to the Prosecutor General Office of the Soviet Union; this lowered the status of the office, with the prosecutor appointed by the Soviet Prosecutor General and having no government post in the Ukraine SSR. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine became an independent agency. The office is directly proscribed in the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine.

Duties and powers The prosecutor general is appointed to office by the president of Ukraine with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament).Z The prosecutor is dismissed from office after serving a six-year term, or on order of the president, or the prosecutor may be forced to resign following a vote of no confidence in the Verkhovna Rada.

The powers of the office (from January 2017) are to: provide organization and leadership of pre-trial investigations; support public prosecution in the courts; and represent the state's interest in the courts, according to the law.

The prosecutor general submits an annual report to the Verkhovna Rada about the legal situation in the country.

The prosecutor general creates a collegiate council consisting of the prosecutor general, their first and other deputies, the prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and other leaders of prosecution agencies.

The prosecutor general office's General Inspectorate is an independent agency established to oversee the actions of the prosecutorial system. Its goals are to modernize the Soviet-era bureaucracy, to enhance inter-agency efficiency and international cooperation, and to fight corruption.

Structure СТРУКТУРА Офісу Генерального прокурора (затверджено наказом Генерального прокурора від 21.12.2019 №99-шц. Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine

Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Prosecutor's Office of Cherkasy Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Chernihiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Chernivtsi Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Kherson Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Khmelnytskyi Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Kirovohrad Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Luhansk Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Lviv Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Mykolaiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Poltava Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Rivne Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Sumy Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Ternopil Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Vinnytsia Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Volyn Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Zakarpattia Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Zaporizhia Oblast Prosecutor's Office of Zhytomyr Oblast Military Prosecutor's Office of Joint Forces Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Central Region Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Southern Region Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukrainian Western Region National Academy of Prosecution of Ukraine

Separate organizations Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Military Prosecutor General Inspectorate Primary Trade Union Organization of the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine employees

Leadership

Prosecutor General – Iryna Venediktova (17 March 2020) Deputy Prosecutor General – Viktor Trepak (8 October 2019) Deputy Prosecutor General – Günduz Mamedov (18 October 2019) Deputy Prosecutor General—Director of Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office – Nazar Kholodnytskyi (30 November 2015)

History Early period

The post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine was first established in 1917, following the dissolution of the Russian Empire. When the Ukrainian People's Republic was formed – after Ukraine declared its independence from the Russian Republic due to the Bolshevik's aggression – the post was held by the minister of justice. Term Name11917–1918Dmytro Markovych2Serhiy Shelukhin3Mykhailo Chubynskyi4Oleksiy Romanov5Andriy Viazlov6Viktor Reinbot

Soviet period After the occupation of Ukraine by Bolsheviks in June 1922, the Prosecutor's Office of the Ukrainian SSR was established. The prosecutor general was appointed by the Ukrainian government and remained merged with the minister of justice until the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union came into force, at which point the republican prosecution office of Ukraine was subordinated to the prosecutor general of the USSR.

No. Term Name Official title11922–1927Mykola SkrypnykProsecutor General21927–1930Vasyl PoraikoProsecutor General31930–1933Vasiliy PolyakovProsecutor General41933–1935Mikhail MikhailikProsecutor General51935–1936Arkadiy KiselyovProsecutor General61936–1937Grigoriy ZhelyeznogorskiyProsecutor General71938–1944Leonid YacheninProsecutor of the Ukrainian SSR81944–1953Roman RudenkoProsecutor of the Ukrainian SSR91953–1963Denys PanasyukProsecutor of the Ukrainian SSR101963–1983Fedir HlukhProsecutor of the Ukrainian SSR111983–1990Petro OsypenkoProsecutor of the Ukrainian SSR121990–1991Mykhailo PotebenkoProsecutor of the Ukrainian SSR

Post-Soviet period Following Ukrainian independence in 1991, the prosecutor general wielded considerable power as a legacy of the Soviet Union state prosecutor's office. Many of the office's functions were expanded in 1991, but in 2016 the powers of the office were decreased and limited.

Prior to January 2017, the term of authority of the prosecutor was five years. Since January 2017 this was increased to six years. This list below shows prosecutors of independent Ukraine. In the absence of the prosecutor general, the office is headed by their first deputy as the acting prosecutor general.

No. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Name14 Sep 1991 – 21 Oct 1993221 Oct 1993 – 19 Oct 1995Vladyslav Datsiuk319 Oct 1995 – 22 Jul 1997Hryhoriy Vorsinovact22 Jul 1997 – 24 Apr 1998Oleh Lytvakact24 Apr – 17 Jul 1998Bohdan Ferents417 Jul 1998 – 30 May 2002Mykhailo Potebenko30 May 30 – 6 Jul 2002unknown56 Jul 2002 – 29 Oct 2003Sviatoslav Piskun29 Oct – 8 Nov 2003unknown68 Nov 2003 – 9 Dec 2004Hennadiy Vasylyev710 Dec 2004 – 14 Oct 2005Sviatoslav Piskun14 Oct – 4 Nov 2005unknown84 Nov 2005 – 26 Apr 2007Oleksandr Medvedko926 Apr – 24 May 2007Sviatoslav Piskunact24 May – 1 Jun 2007Viktor Shemchuk101 Jun 2007 – 3 Nov 2010Oleksandr Medvedko114 Nov 2010 – 22 Feb 2014Viktor Pshonkacomm22–24 Feb 2014Oleh MakhnitskyiOn appointment of Makhnitsky O.I. the Commissioner to monitor the activities of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. RESOLUTION of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine № 760-VII. February 22, 2014act24 FebOn appointment of O.Makhnitsky as acting General Prosecutor of Ukraine. DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE № 91/2014. February 24, 2014 – 18 Jun 2014Ukrainian president dismisses Makhnitsky as acting prosecutor general, Interfax-Ukraine (18 June 2014) Oleh Makhnitskyi1219 Jun 2014MPs agree to Yarema's appointment as prosecutor general, Interfax-Ukraine (19 June 2014) – 11 Feb 2015Vitaliy Yarema1311 Feb 2015Ukrainian parliament backs nomination of Shokin as prosecutor general, Interfax-Ukraine (10 February 2015) – 29 Mar 2016Rada agreed to dismiss Shokin. Ukrayinska Pravda. 29 March 2016Viktor Shokinact29 Mar – 12 May 2016Yuriy Sevruk1412 May 2016 – 29 Aug 2019The new Attorney General was a former NAPC member, Ukrayinska Pravda (29 August 2019)Yuriy Lutsenko1529 Aug 2019 – 5 Mar 2020Ruslan Riaboshapkaact6–17 Mar 2020 Viktor Chumak1617 Mar 2020 – 17 Jul 2022 Iryna VenediktovaUkrainian Investigative Director Who Clashed With Activists Approved As Prosecutor-General, Radio Free Europe (March 17, 2020)act17–27 Jul 2022Oleksiy Symonenko1727 Jul 2022 - 31 October 2024Andriy Kostinact31 October 2024 – 17 June 2025Oleksiy Khomenko1817 June 2025 – 15 September 2026Ruslan Kravchenko

See also Judicial system of Ukraine Ministry of Justice (Ukraine)

Notes

References

External links Law of Ukraine "On Prosecutor"s Office" . Prosecutor General's Office website