Why New Positions Have Been Added in the Prosecutor's Office: Clarification from the Prosecutor's Advisor

The advisor to the Armenian Chief Prosecutor, Gor Abrahamyan, made a post on Facebook explaining the necessity, reasons, and justifications for the increase in positions within the Prosecutor's Office, detailing the relevant decision and causative factors.

According to the decision No. 706-A of June 11, 2018, by the Prime Minister of Armenia, the maximum number of positions in the Prosecutor's Office has been set at 653, of which 351 are allocated for prosecutors, while the rest are for public servants in auxiliary professional structural units of the Prosecutor's Office and for technical support staff.

Currently, due to the unprecedented continuous growth in the number of criminal cases, prosecutors are facing an extraordinary overload.

It should be noted that since 2008, there has been almost no actual growth in prosecutorial positions. If in 2008, 337 prosecutorial positions were planned, as of May 15, 2019, there were 351 positions.

During the period of 2008-2020, there has been a significant increase of 138 positions for investigators, or about 19.5%, whereas during the same period, the number of prosecutor positions increased by only 14, or 4.1%. Therefore, the workload of prosecutors has increased disproportionately.

For instance, regarding the function of prosecutorial oversight over the legality of pre-trial proceedings, a statistical comparison shows that in 2008, prosecutorial oversight and procedural management were conducted for 20,329 materials and 16,593 criminal cases regarding their legality. By 2019, the number of materials prepared for oversight increased to 58,290 (an increase of 27,961 materials or about 137%) and the number of criminal cases was 35,168 (an increase of 18,575 cases or about 112%). This means that while in 2008, the average annual workload for prosecutors overseeing criminal cases was 49.2 cases, in 2019, it rose to 130.7 cases.

However, as we know, overseeing the legality of pre-trial proceedings is just one of the functions of the Prosecutor's Office. To provide a more comprehensive picture, I will mention other relevant data. For example, the number of cases examined in first-instance courts, where prosecutors defend the charges, has increased by 66% as of May 15, 2020, compared to 2008. Moreover, compared to 2015, the extent of prosecutors' participation in court proceedings regarding the illegality and unreasonableness of decisions and actions by investigators, judges, and operational investigative bodies has increased by 125%. The number of motions discussed regarding conditional early release from punishment has increased by 80.6%, while those regarding changing the sentence, postponing punishment, or releasing from punishment have increased by 184%.

In addition to the above, it is important to note that the Law on Forfeiture of Illegally Obtained Property and related laws have already entered into force. Under these laws, the Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has been assigned a number of authorities related to the confiscation of illegally obtained property. To implement these powers, a separate subdivision is being established within the Chief Prosecutor's Office, consisting of 5 prosecutors, as well as a separate position for a Deputy Chief Prosecutor intended to coordinate the work of this subdivision. Consequently, it is also necessary to increase the number of positions in the Prosecutor's Office system to include not only prosecutors but also employees in supporting professional structural subdivisions, experts, and supporting staff, totaling around 15 positions.

It should also be noted that international experience has been taken into account. In particular, a comparative review of the number of prosecutors per 100,000 population in several Council of Europe member states shows that in 2016, this number was 25 in Russia, 23 in Latvia, 24 in Lithuania, 21 in Bulgaria, 19 in Moldova, and 15 in Poland, whereas Armenia had about 11 prosecutors per 100,000 population. According to the conducted study, with the increase in the number of investigators, there was an urgent need to increase the number of prosecutors in the system by 65, as well as by 8 employees assisting the functions related to the forfeiture of illegally obtained property (a total of 73 positions), which was the basis for the Prime Minister's decision.