THE PUBLIC PROSECUTION SERVICE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE: ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY

The role of the Public Prosecution Service within the criminal justice system calls for an increasingly effective and demanding organisational structure and working processes, to deal with nowadays complex and serious crime, while guided by the Rule of Law.

Public Prosecution Services operating in the different legal systems use different ways to deal with this demanding task, often influenced by national traditions and cultures, national media and politics, while global aspects such as cross-border crime and international judicial cooperation become increasingly important. Prosecution Services are responsible for finding the most effective and efficient organisational structure and working processes to execute criminal prosecutions. While at the same time it is necessary to gain public confidence in the judicial system and to strengthen the legitimacy of the Public Prosecution Services.

What does this mean for the strategies and organisational structure of Prosecution Services, how to make them better equipped to face the new reality, how to meet the expectations of the public, governments and partners?

Strategies should be developed to better manage the complex fight against the increasing danger of (international) crime. Public Prosecution Services should act according to well-defined objectives. They should set priorities and establish activity plans. Efficiency, competence, speed, economic rationality and accountability should all be taken into account. Today, more than ever, the role of the Public Prosecution Service requires effective recruitment and training, specialisation, effective control and direction of the criminal proceedings, and last but not least the effective digital support of organisational processes.

However, this should never put the principles of a democratic Rule of Law at stake. These principles should always be respected and should guide the complex management of Prosecution Services. Prosecution Services should intervene consciously and homogenously, should act fair and firm, should be objective and impartial and inform the public in a transparent way.

The aim of this conference is to find and discuss the best ways to combine effective and efficient organisational procedures with safeguarding the rights of the individual, both the accused and the victim. This challenge is not solely the responsibility of the management. Frontline prosecutors will be the first ones to experience the effect of inefficient processes and the effect of their work on accused and victims.

METHODOLOGY:

The conference presentations will be in a panel format. Two or three speakers and a moderator/facilitator on every panel will cover throughout the conference the most relevant items regarding the structure and role of the prosecution in criminal justice.