Adamsons: First Prosecutor General, then Pope

RIGA - As outgoing Prosecutor General Janis Skrastins ticked off the
days on his calendar, his nemesis remained determined to limit the
powers of the position.

Janis Adamsons, the chair of Parliament's investigation commission
and a Social Democratic Party Member of Parliament, said the decision
making of the prosecutor general is not subject to any government
controls.

"There's no institution in our state in which we can appeal the
prosecutor general's decisions," he said.

Adamsons said all other officials in Latvia can be removed such as
the president and the prime minister, who have a minimum of
responsibility to Parliament, but not the prosecutor general.

Despite criticism from the legal community and cries of parliamentary
interference, he said Latvia needs a special prosecutor who can
investigate and make decisions in criminal cases.

Adamsons said there is a rule in Parliament which allows the creation
of an investigation commission that can investigate criminal matters.

Currently, criminal cases are the sole domain of the police, the
prosecutor general's office and the courts. They are considered
judicial powers as opposed to legislative (Parliament) or executive
(Cabinet of Ministers).

Yet in the 6th Parliament, Adamsons said he sat as deputy chair of
Parliament's investigation commission into the state-owned energy
company Latvenergo: It examined what happened to the company's three
million lats ($5.154 million) which disappeared.

Adamsons said when the commission was finished, it was clear where
the money went, who got it and who was involved in the scandal.

He said all those documents were sent to the prosecutor general, but
the office did not make an impartial investigation.

Together with Latvia's Way MP Andrejs Pantelejevs, Adamsons said they
decided, after this investigation commission, that Parliament should
have an independent prosecutor.

Valts Kalnins, a political science lecturer at the University of
Latvia, said previously the establishment of a special prosecutor
would undo the divisions between the legislative and judicial
branches of power.

"By law, these two institutions are separate," said Adamsons. "But by
the legislation we have now, the prosecutor general is even holier
than the Pope."

However, a special prosecutor, as pointed out by several critics,
would be controlled by Parliament's investigation commission.

"He is independent from the prosecutor general's office, from this
system and his decisions can be appealed to the Supreme Court. And
that would be a logical result," said Adamsons.

As for the prosecutor general, he said Parliament should not control
its work, but establish a mechanism to control him.

Nor, according to Parliament's investigation commission, could the
prosecutor general ever be faced with political pressure.

"The prosecutor general has a general responsibility to the rule of
law, but nowhere is it said what should be done if he breaks the law."