State prosecutors’ bill swept off the table

The cabinet has decided to withdraw a bill on state prosecutors, which was approved by the previous government of Petr Nečas and went through a first reading in the lower house earlier this year. Justice Minister Marie Benešová said that she wants to revise the bill and resubmit it. Specifically, Mrs. Benešová wants state prosecutors to have their own budget, to give them greater independence, and, for example, to debate the length of the term for the highest state prosecutor. According to the current bill, the high state prosecutors’ offices in Prague and Olomouc would be abolished and a new anti-corruption division created. Former justice minister Pavel Blažek, Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman and Prague High State Attorney Lenka Bradáčová have criticized Mrs. Benešová’s move as counterproductive.