The rift between the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office is further widening after the ministry said it could consider personally allocating special activity funds to the prosecution. 

According to the legal sector on Tuesday, the ministry made the suggestion before the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee earlier on Monday. The ministry’s remarks came after committee members held a heated debate over the use of special activity funds, of which both the ministry and prosecution have refrained from disclosing details, citing security concerns.   

Currently, the Justice Ministry personally allocates the budget of each district prosecutors’ office after getting the budget from the Finance Ministry.  

However, in terms of special activity funds, the ministry takes some of the money provided by the Finance Ministry and sends the rest to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. The prosecutor general then allocates the special funds to district offices in line with investigation conditions.  

With its latest suggestion, the Justice Ministry is saying it could expand its budgeting authority over the prosecution to include the allocation of special activity funds if controversy continues over the transparency of how such funds are distributed.  

Inside the prosecution, concerns have been raised that such a move by the ministry would be intervening in prosecutors' investigations, thus infringing on the prosecution's independence.