The Procurator General’s Office at the Supreme Court

The Procurator General's Office is an independent part of the Supreme Court and is headed by the Procurator General. The Procurator General's Office comprises the Procurator General, the deputy Procurator General and Advocates General (AGs). The Procurator General's Office is independent and is not part of the Public Prosecution Service. The Procurator General's Office is divided into three divisions: civil law, criminal law and tax law. The most important duty of the Procurator General's Office is to provide the Supreme Court with legal advice, known as advisory opinions, regarding cases before the Court. These are issued independently by the members of the Procurator General's Office. A total of 1,391 opinions were issued in 2024: 344 in civil cases, 916 in criminal cases and 131 in tax cases.

In addition, the Procurator General has a number of special duties. This allows him to institute cassation in the interest of the law to obtain a decision from the Supreme Court on a question of law without affecting an already concluded case. Additionally, the Procurator General is the only person authorised to criminally prosecute government officials or Members of Parliament, but only after having been ordered to do so by the government or the House of Representatives. When charges are brought against government officials or Members of Parliament, the Procurator General first conducts an exploratory investigation to see if there are any leads for investigation. Other tasks relate to the supervision of data processing by courts and the Procurator General's Office at the Supreme Court, the supervision of the Public Prosecution Service, the internal and external complaints regulation and the review in criminal cases.

The special duties of the Procurator General are discussed in this section.