12 january 2012

Vladimir Putin addresses a gala night marking Prosecutor’s Office Employees’ Day

Vladimir Putin

At a gala night marking Prosecutor’s Office Employees’ Day

Participants:
“The work performed by the Prosecutor’s Office carries an enormous human and moral dimension. People’s faith in truth and justice, in their equality before the law, in the state’s ability to steadfastly protect the rights, honour and dignity of every individual, of every citizen all depend on how effectively you work.”

Vladimir Putin’s speech:

Mr Chaika (Yuri Chaika - Prosecutor General), colleagues.

Today the Prosecutor’s Office celebrates the 290th anniversary of its founding. I congratulate you on your professional holiday and I thank you for your work. My congratulations.

Almost three centuries ago, Peter the Great decided to establish the Prosecutor’s Office seeking – and I quote – “to eliminate or weaken the iniquity issuing from disorder in affairs, injustice, bribery and lawlessness.” The great reformer understood perfectly that a state with aspirations of development and transformation needed competent and sound authorities, and that the power and supremacy of the law, truth and justice, and respect for the law, were the very mainstays of the nation, and of the whole community.

Nowadays the Russian Prosecutor’s Office has great powers, playing a most important, co-ordinating role in guaranteeing the rule of law and fighting crime. But you carry a very significant responsibility, because you must advocate and defend the interests both of the state as a whole and of each individual, every single Russian citizen, their rights, personal security and dignity, and all this places very stringent requirements on your work, colleagues.

The Prosecutor’s Office’s first priority is, of course, combating corruption. I note that, following the adoption of the National Anti-Corruption Plan in 2008, due to the intense activity of the Prosecutor’s Office, over one million instances of corruption were uncovered. These included not only bribery, but various conflicts of interest, attempted bribery, violations of the rules on fair competition, and of business and professional ethics. And naturally, the Prosecutor’s Office should be willing to review its own personnel, as you are very well aware. Even isolated incidents of inappropriate behaviour and violations of the law overshadow the activities of all the agency’s employees, place a question mark over their professionalism and impartiality, their ability to protect individual liberties in an unbiased fashion.   

Simultaneously, I want to highlight the great work you have done in the anticorruption legislative review – this is a very important component of our joint work. Going forward it will be necessary to attract the expert community, NGOs, members of the public to this process on a permanent basis, and it is important that all reasonable and sound proposals are considered.

Let me remind you that it was the results of the analysis conducted by your department, the Prosecutor’s Office, which underpinned the most important decisions amending the underlying principles of how the oversight and supervisory agencies and services work. I want to note that all spot-checks of businessmen are now under the Prosecutor’s Office jurisdiction, and that this has produced definite results. The number of attempts to interfere with legitimate businesses or to put pressure on them has fallen. This is something with which you are intimately familiar, and I am aware of it thanks to my practical activity; the business communities that I am in touch with, confirm this. In just two years the Prosecutor’s Office dismissed more than 1.5 million applications for various spot-checks, unscheduled audits of businesses. It is important that these extremely high requirements regarding the grounds for carrying out spot checks, and their results, are carried forward, that the fight administrative barriers continues, and in general that businesses are not hindered – but rather that they are encouraged to develop. Naturally, first of all it is necessary to defend citizens’ rights, to protect them from low-quality goods and services, and from the damage inflicted by unscrupulous businessmen. I also ask that you monitor the situation in the utilities closely. Our common goal is to bring order here, to guarantee citizens’ rights. This is a very sensitive area for the state.

Colleagues. The work performed by the Prosecutor’s Office carries an enormous human and moral dimension. People’s faith in truth and justice, in their equality before the law, in the state’s ability to steadfastly protect the rights, honour and dignity of every individual, of every citizen all depend on how effectively you work, on your efficiency. You yourselves are well aware of the scale of this challenge. Only last year, more than two million people called on you to defend their interests. I urge you to respond promptly, adroitly and uncompromisingly to any instance where a citizen’s rights and legal interests have been violated. Especially where vulnerable segments of society are concerned, such as war veterans, pensioners, disabled people, and children, i.e. those who, due to age, illness, or other causes are not able to defend their own interests. They easily fall victim to fraudsters, criminals, and callous bureaucrats. This calls for particular attention, heightened attention on your part.

Colleagues. Carrying out your duties requires commitment, professionalism, honesty and the faithful adherence to fundamental principles. Every situation requires that you are impartial, implacable in the face of evil, injustice, cruelty and especially violence, that you are guided exclusively by the interests of the community, the state and its citizens. Most Prosecutor’s Office employees have consistently risen to meet these requirements. And I am sure you will cope masterfully with the challenges facing you. 

My congratulations, once again, to the personnel and long-serving employees at the Russian Prosecutor’s Office on this, their professional holiday. I wish you success and all the very best. And, of course, belatedly, Happy New Year! All the best.