Speech at the All-Russian Conference of Prosecutors.Part 1
January 11,2001
Moscow.
Выступление на Всероссийском совещании прокуроров.
11 января 2001 года.
Москва.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon.
Todays conference and it is more than a meeting of the Collegium, it is an All-Russia Conference falls on your professional holiday. It will actually be tomorrow and I hope that you havent yet started the celebrations so we will be able to discuss all the problems that face the prosecutors office today in a constructive manner.In addition to discussing day-to-day problems, you will discuss the strategy of the development of the prosecutors office. The place and role of the Russian prosecutors office in the system of government bodies has been widely discussed in society and in the media lately.The Constitution of the Russian Federation has left open the question of the place of the prosecutors office in the system of government bodies. Unfortunately, the current law on the prosecutors office does not fully fill that gap. The current concept fails to provide a full and clear answer to theoretical and indeed many practical questions. Prosecutors themselves are known to differ on how to tackle these questions. So I think that this conference and the choice of the key topic of discussion are very timely and appropriate.The Russian prosecutors office has deep roots that go back to the times of Peter the Great, Catherine II and the reforms of Alexander II. To be a prosecutor today is a challenging job, as we know only too well. Often the prosecutors office is held responsible for the woes and faults of the whole law enforcement system. There is a reason for that: its vast functions and strong supervisory powers naturally lead the prosecutors office to try to compensate for the weaknesses of the system of law and order in our country.
But I am sure that you understand the situation in the country and in society. In the heat of public polemics the prosecutors office is sometimes described as a hangover from the totalitarian times, and these accusations have been levelled for several years now. People recall the times when the prosecutors office authority was used to cover up lawlessness in the country. But it would be relevant to recall that at the time lawlessness was rampant in the country, the authority of the courts and the authority of the whole state machine was also used as a cover. Those times are history.We have long been living in a different country; and the prosecutors office is constantly improving, it is not standing still. Changes in the prosecutors office meet the goals of democratisation of the legal and law enforcement system in Russia. Besides, they smooth the contradictions between the legal systems of Russia and those of our international partners.Among the many areas in the work of the prosecutors office one stands out: the coordination of the work of law enforcement bodies on crime control. That function is closely linked with other areas of activity: criminal investigation, oversight of preliminary investigation and inquests. Of course, coordination of efforts in fighting crime should be less a departmental than a government concern, and it should be done within the law.But until such an approach has been worked out and one has to admit that it is not unfortunately the case the prosecutors office has to compensate for that drawback. No one else is up to the task today, and this is a function of the prosecutors office under the law. That is why the prosecutors office bears a large part of the responsibility for coordinated teamwork of all the law enforcement bodies in the country.I am aware that your workload exceeds all reasonable limits. By the way, I see some vacant seats in the gallery, so we could give thought to increasing the number of prosecutors.But I would like you to join other law enforcement bodies in analysing the crime situation and forecasting the crime trends. It is important for us to know the true crime situation in the country.It is not for nothing that prosecutors are referred to as the soldiers of law and order. Like military people, you take your oath, and it is not by chance that almost all of you wear uniforms. You are often treated in the same way as military men and security men. We recognise the strength of the prosecutors office in upholding legality in the country. The performance of the prosecutors office adds to the authority of state power which is obliged to provide secure conditions of life for every Russian citizen.
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В.Путин.Выступление.11.01.01 Part 2by niknikolay128 views
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