Ilgars Zigfrids Septeris will take over a position that is under attack and whose effectiveness is questioned by politicians and the public, if Parliament approves his nomination at the end of March.
Septeris, currently a supreme court judge in the administrative affairs department, would replace outgoing Prosecutor General Janis Skrastins whose term ends on April 3 after he resigned earlier this year.
"[Skrastins] is satisfied the candidate is a person who has worked in the prosecutor's office and he is a person who has taken part in creating this independent Latvia's prosecutor's office," said Dzintra Subrovska, spokeswoman for the prosecutor general's office.
(Septeris joined an independent Latvian prosecutor's office at a time when there were also a prosecutor's office which reported to Moscow, according to Subrovska.)
Yet Septeris may not be the only candidate for the position of prosecutor general, according to the Ministry of Justice's press secretary, Leonards Pavils; he said Gulans may have other candidates too.
Skrastins, whose work is currently being investigated by the Supreme Court, was heavily criticized by politicians for his handling of the investigation into Latvia's alleged pedophile ring.
His resignation sparked a public debate amongst legal experts and academics who felt Skrastins' adversary, Member of Parliament Janis Adamsons, was attempting to fuse the legislative (Parliament) and judicial (courts, prosecutor general's office) branches of the Latvian government.
Earlier this year, Adamsons, who chairs Parliament's investigation commission, pushed for an independent prosecutor because he believed the current prosecutor general has too much power.
Meanwhile, public distrust for the legal system and the prosecutor general's office has simmered in the background for several months.
According to one legal expert, it is against this troubled background that Septeris, who has worked as a judge and a prosecutor in regional and supreme courts, must find a way to rehabilitate and rejuvenate the image of the prosecutor general's office.
"Lawyers are quite positive [about his nomination]. At least, nobody has seen him doing something wrong, and he has a reputation as a good lawyer," said Martins Mits, acting director of the Institute on Human Rights at the University of Latvia.
Given the attempts of the Cabinet of Ministers and Parliament to exert pressure on the judicial branch of government, he said the new prosecutor must be very strong.
Mits said it's crucial that people in senior positions must have a good reputation professionally and personally so the public will take them seriously.
He acknowledged judicial authority does not enjoy wide public support in Latvia as there is the perception of corruption amongst judges and in the prosecutor general's office.
Politicians have complained vigorously about the prosecutor general's office's handling of the Latvenergo affair: At least 3 million lats ($5 million) went missing from the publicly-owned energy company and no one was ever charged.
"Justice must be done," said Mits, "but it also must be seen to be done."
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