NCJ Number
201695
Date Published
February 2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Following a historical overview of Germany's public prosecution office, this paper reviews the legal status and functions of this office, along with its structure and organization, as well as its role relative to the police.
Abstract
Modern public prosecution offices in Germany are hierarchically structured, independent organs of the administration of criminal justice. They are on an equal level with the courts. There are independent "Land" public prosecution offices in each local jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of a public prosecution office is governed by the territorial jurisdiction of the court where the public prosecution office has been established. On the Federal level, the Federal Public Prosecution Office exists in parallel with the Federal Court of Justice. The public prosecution office has three main functions: leading investigation proceedings, conducting the prosecution in court-related proceedings, and executing criminal sentences and handling pardons. Each of these functions is described in detail in the paper. The public prosecution office is divided into divisions that are headed by senior public prosecutors. The number and scope of the divisions within a particular office depend on the area of competence of the authority. The paper discusses the core elements of a special division for the suppression of economic crime and how the individual public prosecutor organizes his/her work. The section of the paper that discusses the role of the public prosecution office in relation to the police in its jurisdiction consists of general proposals to improve cooperation between the police and the public prosecution office and how such cooperation is implemented in "accelerated cases." The paper briefly discusses pilot schemes for the forfeiture of criminal proceeds. Appended supplementary material