Last fall, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law requiring that Ukraine reduce the number of prosecutors from 18,000 to 12,000. On July 2, the Rada passed amendments to that law requiring that an objective testing process be used to determine which prosecutors would be retained.
At the request of the Ukrainian Government, the United States and other international donors provided funding to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop the test. The OECD is the internationally recognized expert on anti-corruption and reform. Our contribution was part of $200,000 we gave to the OECD to support the development of the exam and other anti-corruption initiatives.
OECD experts identified the Kharkiv Institute of Applied Humanitarian Research to author the exam. A draft of the test was submitted to the Ukrainian Academy of Prosecutors, the legal education arm of the Prosecutor General’s Office, at the end of April for input and review. The Academy’s input was incorporated before the exam was finalized.
The test is fair and meets international standards. It is critically important that Ukraine’s prosecutors be selected through an objective and merit-based process. This exam does just that, and helps ensure that the Rada’s prosecutorial reform law and its associated amendments are fully implemented.
