Bodnar hopes that the government in December will take care of the task of separating the functions of PG and MS chief

The Minister of Justice should not be the lawyer General at the same time and will not be," stressed the head of the MS and lawyer General Adam Bodnar on Friday, expressing the hope that the task separating these 2 functions will be taken care of by the government in December.

The Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers adopted a draft amendment on Thursday, among others. The law on the prosecution, whose main intent is – as MS emphasizes – to separate the prosecutor from the government administration, so that the lawyer General – as the head of all prosecutors – is not susceptible to political influence.

"The Minister of Justice should not be the lawyer General at the same time. And it won't. Yesterday, the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers approved the bill separating these functions. I hope that it will be on the Council of Ministers in December," Bodnar wrote on Friday on platform X.

He stressed that the proposed amendment "is a milestone in restoring and strengthening the regulation of law in Poland" and "ensuring the fuses of democracy in the event of the emergence of politicians with a power akin to those represented by Zbigniew Ziobro".

Bodnar stressed that the main nonsubjective of the proposed changes was to "make the office of the lawyer General politically independent", but he besides stressed that a completely fresh standard and fresh quality are being introduced.

"The Act provides for a number of steps, a transparent procedure for the notification and election of the lawyer General by Parliament and the establishment of an crucial opinion of the Social Council at this office. The budgetary autonomy of the Public Prosecutor's Office is besides ensured," the Minister noted.

Bodnar stressed that this was 1 of the most crucial changes he had announced erstwhile he became chief of the Minister of Justice. He thanked his colleagues in the ministry and the government for their effective cooperation.

The head of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers Maciej Berek told PAP on Thursday, after the adoption of the draft by the Committee, that there was a long discussion among ministers, due to the fact that the proposed solutions meant, among others, that the prosecution would be another entity enjoying budgetary autonomy – that is, its budget would be beyond the control of the Minister of Finance.

– Despite first reservations, the Minister of Finance accepted this position. We want the prosecution to be separated from the government in all dimension – although for any political groups it may be unimaginable said PAP Berek. At the same time, taking into account the timetable for work on the draft state budget, the first budget to include a separate part concerning the prosecution would be 2027.

In accordance with the details of the task presented by the head of the KSRM, preliminary candidates for the lawyer General will be able to present: groups of active prosecutors, the National Council of Legal Advisors, the Chief Bar Council and the Council of Public Interest Activities. This means that a number of at least 35 MPs or at least 15 senators have been resigned from the previously proposed solution, assuming that candidates will besides be able to submit a group of at least 35 MPs or at least 15 senators. The next phase of the procedure is to be a public proceeding of the candidates, and "the final election of the lawyer General will be made by the Sejm, with the consent of the Senate."

Pursuant to the proposed provisions for the position of lawyer General, a individual who is the prosecutor of the public prosecutor's office or IPN in active condition will be able to be appointed; he has at least 20 years of post as prosecutor or judge; he has held the position of prosecutor for 10 years before appointment and has not been disciplinaryly punished. The word of office will last 6 years.

The consequence of the division of the functions of the lawyer General from the head of the MS will be the creation of the lawyer General as an organisational unit providing service to the lawyer General and the abolition of the National Prosecutor's Office.

Source: PAP