Supervision of the Public Prosecution Service (OM)

The Procurator General at the Supreme Court can inform the Minister if they believe that the Public Prosecution Service is not properly enforcing or implementing the legal requirements when performing its duties. In the context of these duties, the Procurator General conducted various thematic investigations into how the Public Prosecution Service performs its duties, always with the focus on the legal quality of the duty being investigated.

Investigations in the context of supervising the Public Prosecution Service

Two investigations were completed during the reporting year, in which final reports were published. The Procurator General presented both reports to the Minister of Justice and Security during the reporting year.

- Supervision report on investigating in a computerised work environment (Dutch: “Onderzoek in een geautomatiseerd werk”)

The main question of the investigation is whether the way in which the Public Prosecution Service implements the power to conduct an investigation in a computerised work environment complies with the applicable legal requirements and the principles of proportionality, subsidiarity and propriety and whether the supervision of its implementation is adequate.

- Supervision report on the Public Prosecution Service’s compliance with the law in issuing penalty orders (Dutch: “Buiten de rechter OM”)

The main question of the investigation is whether the Public Prosecution Service properly complies with the applicable legal requirements when issuing penalty orders.
The Procurator General had already investigated the penalty order issued by the Public Prosecution Service at an earlier stage.

An investigation was also launched in 2022, the main question being whether, when imposing special conditions on a release on probation, the Public Prosecution Service complies with the legal requirements and acts in accordance with the applicable legal principles. The results of the investigation are expected in 2023.