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Developing Mongolia's Legal Framework: A Needs Analysis : The Legal Profession
The ProsecutorsThe General Prosecutor's Office was set up in 1930. As noted previously, it was a very powerful organisation in the judicial system and prosecutors retained substantial control over the trial process. It now has two main functions. One is supervisory. Prosecutors supervise inquiries by the police in both criminal and civil cases, and by customs and administrative organs. They do not do any actual investigatory work themselves and their role is to ensure that investigations are carried out according to law. All investigations must be registered with the General Prosecutor's Office at the outset and prosecutors are then involved at every stage. The investigator must obtain the permission of the General Prosecutor's Office before any search or inquiry can be made that infringes on the liberty of the subject. Investigations must be completed within two weeks. Prosecutors also supervise the execution of criminal penalties. The other role of the General Prosecutor's Office is to represent the state in both civil and criminal proceedings. It can also take part in civil cases in which the state is not a party and can appeal decisions in cases in which it has not appeared if it believes that the decision is contrary to law. The General Prosecutor sits in all plenary sessions of the Supreme Court. The nature of the prosecutors' work has changed considerably over the last few years. One reason is that the role of supervising investigations is new. The second is that the types of crime are changing. In the socialist period, matters such as the improper storage of goods were prevalent. Now there is a growth in crimes against property, particularly theft, possibly as a result of growing unemployment, and economic crime such as fraud and tax evasion. On the other hand, the prosecutors' role in civil proceedings has been greatly reduced. Previously they wre involved in all civil cases. Now this work is largely limited to family matters such as divorce, to labour disputes such as redundancy, and to bankruptcy. The prosecutors do not take the side of any one party in these matters but play an advisory role for the court as to the legal merits of the action and whether there is sufficient evidence for it. The General Prosecutor's Office is still a powerful institution, but is now independent of the government although it is financed from the state budget. It is headed by the office of the General Prosecutor in Ulaanbaatar. There are local offices in the capital city and the aimags, and at soum, intersoum and district level. Altogether there are about 375 prosecutors, including approximately 40 in the General Prosecutor 's Office and 100 in Ulaanbaatar, the remainder working in the other aimags. The General Prosecutor and his two deputies are appointed for a term of six years by the President in consultation with the Ikh Khural. All other prosecutors are appointed by the General Prosecutor. They must have a higher education in law. At present, 60 percent of them graduated in the former Soviet Union and the rest from the State University of Mongolia. The General Prosecutor must be at least 35 years old with ten years' legal experience. Chief prosecutors at the aimag and capital city level must have five years of professional experience. Approximately half the prosecutors are women. Salaries range from Tug 17,000 ($37) per month to Tug 29,000 ($63) for the General Prosecutor and are thus comparable to judicial salaries. Like the judges, they are ranked according to seniority and experience and, based on their respective rankings, they will each receive a supplement to their income. Only higher-ranking prosecutors can supervise police investigations, which can lead to an uneven distribution of work in one office as there are often too few senior prosecutors. On the whole, the problems facing the prosecutors are the same as those facing other members of the legal profession. They have as yet had little exposure to the operation of a market economy or the nature of economic crime and they have had no relevant training. A few have attended training courses abroad and all prosecutors attended a course on the Law of the Prosecutor's Office. There have been various courses on human rights and justice which some prosecutors attended, but the actual usefulness of some of the knowledge obtained for their day-to-day work is probably doubtful. The General Prosecutor's Office has developed a plan for training its staff over the next five years, including intensive training for five months to be given by the prosecutors themselves and the staff of the Institute of Law. They also hope to have some participation from prosecutors from other countries with a similar system. There is no doubt that further training in the relevant aspects of the market economy is needed. Not all prosecutors, however, will be dealing with complex commercial cases. Education could be given, at least initially, to one prosecutor from each aimag, and a greater number from Ulaanbaatar. A national association of prosecutors was set up in late 1994. One of its goals is to press for more training. The General Prosecutor's Office has a library, but most of the texts are outdated and therefore of little or no use. It also has a research and information centre which is staffed by three former prosecutors. There are no research facilities in the aimags. There are plans to improve the equipment in the prosecutors' offices and funding has been given from the government for the first stage. The office of the General Prosecutor now has copiers and there will be a computer system installed in Ulaanbaatar and in two aimags over the next year. Assistance is still being sought for the continuaton of this programme.
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