General Information:

This Prosecutors Office is led by the chief prosecutor. There are 19 head prosecutors and 126 prosecutors. The tasks of prosecutors come into three parts: investigation, public indictment, and execution. Besides the chief prosecutor and the assistant chief prosecutor, the prosecutors are divided into several investigation groups and public indictment groups. There is also a head prosecutor for the Enforcement section. Each group is manned by several prosecutors.

Work and Functions:

The chief prosecutor orchestrates the operations of this Prosecutors Office according to law, whereas the assistant chief prosecutors is to assist the chief prosecutor.

A head prosecutor is in charge of the operation and supervision of the group he 1eads. He is in charge of reviewing, approving and making final decisions on all outbound administrative missives. Besides, he is responsible for evaluating the performance, moral, knowledge, and ability of the prosecutors and staff workers under his command and for making related proposals. The chief prosecutor shall make investigations into petitions filed by the people and make proposals on the studies of legal affairs and related matters.

Article 60 of the Organic Law of Courts provides the functions of a prosecutor as follows:

1. Making investigations and initiating indictment

According to Paragraph 1 of Article 228 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, when a prosecutor learns from a legal complaint, accusation, self-confession, and other reasons that a person is suspected of having committed a crime, he shall immediately make an investigation. After the investigation, if he believes that the suspect is credible, he shall have the suspected offender indicted in compliance with Paragraph 1 of Article 251 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The prosecutor is the principal in an investigation. According to Articles 229 through 231 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he may direct the judicial police (officers) to proceed with the investigation of a criminal case. If need be, he may, or in response to a request from the judicial police (officers), issue a communications surveillance warrant (a tapping ticket) and appeal to the judge for issuing a search warrant and for detaining a defendant. This will ensure the completeness of evidence gathering, execution of duty by judicial police strictly according to law, and exact protection of human rights.

2. Enforcing prosecution and assisting in private prosecution

After a prosecutor indicts a criminal suspect in the belief of having enough evidence according to the provisions of Article 271 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, the court shall summon the defendant and his attorney to appear on the day of trial and also notify the prosecutor, the defense, and the assistant to fulfill their duties at the trial court. In the court, the prosecutor shall, according to Article 286 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, state the essential reasons for the indictment and present the evidence of the commission of the crime for consideration by the judge. He shall also appeal the court to impose a penalty on the offender. If a judgment is made against the law or otherwise improper, the prosecutor shall ask the prosecutor general to make an extraordinary appeal to redress the case. This is intended to oversee the judgment by a court, prevent misjudgment, and protect human rights.

When a victim makes a private prosecution, according to Article 330 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, the prosecutor may appear at the court on the trial day of the case to state his opinions. This is called “assisting in private prosecution.” If the initiator of the private prosecution has lost his ability of action or deceased before the closure of the debate or if the indicted party does not acknowledge the indictment or has failed to acknowledge the indictment beyond the prescribed time, the court shall consider the situation to pass a judgment or to inform the prosecutor to take charge of the litigation.

3. Directing the execution of a criminal judgment

After the judgment is final, according to upper part of Paragraph 1 of Article 457 and Article 458 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, the prosecutor shall abide by the principal of the judgment to issue a written order to carry out the judgment.

4. Carrying out the execution prescribed by other laws

In many laws, the prosecutor is involved wherever public interests come to play. For instance:

a. The prosecutor is involved when an appeal is made to the court, according to the provisions of the Civil Code, for a declaration of the death of a missing person, for a declaration of incompetence, for the election of a liquidator, for the declaration of an dissolution, for the selection of guardian, for the selection of a new trustee according to the Ministry of the Interiors’ regulations governing the sanction and supervision of public interest trust, for an application for selecting a new trustee, for the relief of a trustee and selection of a new trustee or supervisor.

b.  The prosecutor is involved when an appeal is made, according to the Statute for the Control of Sex Trade by Children and Youngster, for a declaration of the stop of the parents’ right to exercise the duties and rights on behalf of the child or youngster because of their incompetence and when the choosing of another guardian for them is needed.

c. The prosecutor is involved when a victim of domestic violence applies to the court for a protection warrant.

d. The prosecutor is involved when a victim compensation review committee is established in accordance with the Law of Protection for Crime Victims to review compensation for the victim.

e. The prosecutor is involved in a case of a death not, or suspected being not, caused by a disease and the local police organization has reported the case to the prosecutor for making an examination.

f. The prosecutor is involved when a foreign government requests the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROC government to extradite a person in accordance with an extradition pact and the case is referred to the prosecutors office of the offender’s residence.

From these legal regulations we can understand that, if a concerned party or an individual cannot claim his right or if a case involves public interests, in which only a specific person can make such a claim, the prosecutor may stand in to make the claim. This amply shows that the prosecutor is the representative of public interests and plays the role of the guardian of public interests.