Prosecution Ministry

To accomplish their mission as stated by the Constitution, the Prosecution Ministry Organic Regulation (EOMF) established the following as functions:[1]

• Ensure that the jurisdictional function is exercised effectively in accordance with the laws and in the terms indicated therein, exercising, where appropriate, the appeals and relevant actions.
• Exercise all legal functions in defense of the independence of judges and courts.
• Ensure respect for constitutional institutions, fundamental rights, and public freedoms through as many actions necessary.
• Exercise criminal and civil actions arising from crimes and faults or oppose those exercised by others, when appropriate.
• Intervene in the criminal process, urging the judicial authority to adopt the appropriate precautionary measures and the practice of diligence aimed at clarifying the facts or directly instructing the procedure within the scope of the provisions of the Organic Law regulating the Criminal Responsibility of the Minors, being able to order the judicial police those diligences that it considers opportune.
• Take part, in defense of legality and public or social interest, in the processes related to civil status and in the others established by law.
• Intervene in civil proceedings that the law determines when the social interest is compromised or when they may affect minor, incapable or defenseless persons as long as the ordinary mechanisms of representation are provided.
• Maintain the integrity of the jurisdiction and competence of judges and courts, promoting conflicts of jurisdiction and, where appropriate, competition issues that arise, and intervene in those promoted by others.
• Ensure compliance with judicial decisions that affect the public and social interest.
• Ensure the procedural protection of victims and the protection of witnesses and experts, promoting the mechanisms provided for them to receive effective assistance and assistance.
• Intervene in the judicial proceedings of amparo as well as in the unconstitutionality issues in the cases and manner provided for in the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court.
• File appeals for constitutional protection, as well as intervene in the processes known to the Constitutional Court in defense of legality, in the manner established by law.
• Exercise in matters of criminal responsibility of minors the functions entrusted to it by specific legislation and direct their actions to the satisfaction of the best interests of the minor.
• Intervene in cases in the manner provided in the laws before the Court of Auditors, and defend the legality in the contentious-administrative and labor processes that foresee their intervention.
• Promote or provide international judicial assistance provided for in international laws, treaties and agreements.
• Exercise the other functions that the state legal system attributes to it.

The Public Prosecution Ministry is composed of numerous bodies, most of them in every judicial body but also in other special jurisdictions and matters (EOMF § 12).[1]

• The Office of the Attorney General
• The Prosecution Council: A body composed of the highest prosecutors entrusted with the advisement of the Attorney General; to establish the organization of the Prosecution Ministry; to resolve disciplinary files and incompatibility matters and to resolve appeals against certain prosecutors' decisions, among others (EOMF § 14).
• The Board of Chamber Prosecutors: the Board assists the Attorney General of the State in doctrinal and technical matters, to form the unitary criteria of interpretation and legal action, the resolution of consultations, preparation of reports and circulars, preparation of projects and reports that must be elevated to the Government and any others, of an analogous nature, that the Attorney General deems appropriate to submit to its knowledge and study (EOMF § 15).
• The Board of High Prosecutors of the Autonomous Communities: Its function is to ensure the unity and coordination of the performance and functioning of the Prosecutor's Offices throughout the country, without prejudice to the powers attributed to the Prosecution Council (EOMF § 16).
• The Prosecution Office of the Supreme Court: It is headed by the Attorney General and it's also composed by the Lieutenant Attorney, the position that historically assumed the competences that today has the Attorney General. The Lieutenant Attorney acts as a second-in-command prosecutor replacing the Attorney General when this can't exercise its powers and directs the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office by delegation of the Attorney General (EOMF § 17).
• The Prosecution Office before the Constitutional Court
• The Prosecution Office of the National Court
• The Special Prosecution Offices: There are two Special Prosecution Offices—the Anti-drug Prosecution Office and the Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime. They are characterized by having its own police units (provided by the State Police law enforcements) (EOMF § 19).
• The Prosecution Office of the Court of Auditors
• The Military Prosecution Office
• The Prosecutor's Offices of the Autonomous Communities
• The Provincial Prosecutors
• The Area Prosecutor's Offices

Article 124 of the Constitution which regulates the Prosecution Ministry, in its second paragraph establish the main four principles that should govern the action of the Public Prosecution:

The Prosecution Ministry shall discharge its duties through its own bodies in accordance with the principles of unity of operation and hierarchical subordination, subject in all cases to the principles of the rule of law and of impartiality.

— Article 124.2 of the Spanish Constitution

In 1835, under the regency of Queen María Cristina, the Provisional Regulation for the Administration of Justice was approved, which did not specifically mention the Prosecution Ministry, but established a state-level prosecution organization topped by the Attorney of the Supreme Court.[4]

The Prosecution Ministry was officially mentioned in the Organic Act of the Judiciary of 1870:[5]

The Prosecution Ministry will watch over the observance of this law and of the others that refer to the organization of the Courts: it will promote the action of justice as far as the public interest is concerned, and will have the representation of the Government in its relations with the Judiciary.

— Article 763 of the Organic Act of the Judiciary of 1870

In 1886, the Prosecution Ministry lost rights over the defence of the interests of the Public Treasury in favour of the Solicitor General's Office.[6]

Under Francoism, the Ministry lost many of its rights, and was used to execute orders and act as a channel of communication between the executive and judicial powers.

When Spain transitioned to democracy and the Constitution of 1978 was approved, the Ministry recovered its rights and was granted new ones, defending not only the interest of the State but also the citizens', their rights, and freedoms, as well as watch over the independence of justice. The Constitution integrated it into the Judiciary while giving it full autonomy without being under the authority of the General Council of the Judiciary. It stopped being a communication channel between the executive and judicial powers.[7]

The information in this article has three main sources:

• The Constitution.
• The Organic Regulation of the Prosecution Ministry (EOMF).
• The Organic Act of the Judiciary (LOPJ)