Among the world's criminal procedure systems, the main legal actors are judges (professional and lay), who adjudicate legal disputes; jurors (lay persons), who render a verdict and find facts; defense attorneys (professional and lay) who defend the accused, and prosecutors, who participate in bringing the state's case against the accused.

Prosecutorial Roles and Legal Traditions

Either public or private prosecutors conduct criminal prosecutions, with public salaried government employees the most common. Public prosecutors enter state employment either as civil service or direct appointees or through popular election. They typically are responsible for initiating prosecution against the accused. In private prosecution systems, the victim or victim's relatives often initiate prosecution. This process may run parallel to the public prosecution system, as in Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Finland.

The role ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles