What is the main activity of the prosecutor's office?

The prosecutor's office of Russia exercises control over the implementation of articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and also implements other functions. A feature of the structure is the fact that it is not subordinate to any of the existing branches of government, it carries out all its activities independently of other departments. The main activity of the prosecutor's office is to ensure compliance with the law at all state levels: in ministries, executive and legislative bodies, administrations of regional and local significance, etc.

Structure history

The structure dates back to the XVIII century, when Peter I adopted a decree on the formation of the Russian prosecutor's office. The goal of the new institution was to combat bribery and abuse of power by government officials. In the middle of the 19th century, the prosecution was separated from the judiciary ( to ensure more strict compliance with the law) . In the Soviet period, the main activities of the prosecutor's office were significantly expanded: its employees could intervene in the work of the Supreme Court and even suspend its decisions.

After 1992, the department was finally formed into a separate state institution, completely independent of the judicial or executive branches of government. At the same time, a new direction of supervisory activity was introduced - the observance of human rights in accordance with the European Convention.

Today it is a militarized structure with its own charter, oath, insignia and established uniform. The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation is Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich. As of 2016, more than 51 thousand civilian and military-liable employees work in the prosecutor's office.

Structure

All individual prosecutorial departments and regional offices located in the regions of Russia are part of a single centralized system and are subordinate to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The main activities of the prosecution authorities are determined by their primary tasks:

• The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - exercises control over all subordinate institutions;
• Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office - a federal state educational institution that provides training for specialized personnel;
• prosecutors of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (as well as cities and regions) - oversee compliance with legislative standards in various constituent entities of the country;
• Military Prosecutor's Office - monitors compliance with the law in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In addition, there are narrowly targeted prosecutors specializing in the control of transport, penitentiary or environmental systems. The main activities of the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation in the field of print media are the preparation of training and information materials, as well as interaction with the media.

Regulatory documents

In its work, the prosecutor's office is guided primarily by Article 129 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which stipulates the basic legal norms of the department. In addition, the main activity of the prosecutor’s office is spelled out in Federal Law No. 2202-1 “On the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation” dated January 17, 1992. The list of regulatory documents also includes the Civil Procedure Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights is of great importance in the work of the modern prosecutor's office , today this act is decisive in judicial proceedings.

The most important areas of work

The main activities of the prosecutor's office are:

• control over the observance of the law by state bodies (that is, control of inspections and other non-departmental organizations);
• verification of the implementation of administrative decisions made: fines, sanctions, etc .;
• monitoring the process of creation and application of legal acts by federal or local authorities.

And also control that the rights and freedoms of minors are respected at all levels, including in all state and commercial structures.

Other activity

Dynamic directions, the significance of which is determined by the changing situation in a region, region or city:

• in recent years, one of the priority areas of activity of prosecution bodies has been compliance with the law in the field of lending, investment and other banking activities;
• depending on the tasks assigned to a particular region, the prosecutor's office can solve issues related to taxation and crimes related to public policy.

All unchanged activities are reflected in the legal acts of the subjects of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. In addition, the main activity of the prosecutor's office in Russia is to coordinate the work of law enforcement agencies and to monitor compliance with the lawfulness and legality of their activities.

The prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation carries out one of the areas of work to organize cooperation between different countries of the world. This is especially true in the light of the problem of terrorism. Only coordinated action by all countries can counter the global threat.

The powers of prosecutors

The prosecutor carries out the main activity of the prosecutor's office in monitoring compliance with the constitutional rights of citizens of the Russian Federation. He is an official with the right to enter any institutions of the supervised bodies, conduct an inspection and questioning of their employees, view documents and all necessary information on electronic media. In addition, the prosecutor has the authority to demand the prosecution of people who have violated the law, explaining to them the consequences of failure to comply with his orders.

In case of evidence of the illegality of the decision made earlier by the judge, the prosecutor has the right to cancel it. Also, his competence includes the ability to protest legal acts issued in violation of the law. One of the primary duties of the officials of this structure is to monitor and prevent corruption in state authorities. In recent decades, this function has become one of the main activities of the prosecution authorities.

The powers of the prosecutor

The list of tasks of the state structure is very wide. One of the priority powers of the prosecutor is participation as a prosecutor in court hearings. It is he who defends the interests of the Constitution in criminal matters. In addition, the powers and main activities of the prosecutor's office are:

• consideration of applications from citizens or organizations on the fact of violation of human rights and freedoms;
• prosecution of persons who have committed an offense.

In some cases, when during the civil proceedings the injured party is not able to defend the interests on their own, as well as when there are many victims or the case has a great public resonance, prosecutors have the right to file a lawsuit in court on their own, making a statement on behalf of the injured party.

High-profile cases

The main directions and functions of the prosecutor's office are characterized by the openness and transparency of the work of this structure. The work of the prosecutor is to oversee all other departments, private organizations and ordinary citizens. And the functions of the prosecutor's office, in turn, are closely monitored by society as a whole.

The Public Relations Department of the Russian Prosecutor’s Office provides a daily report on the activities of both the General Prosecutor’s Office and its regional offices. Most often high-profile cases are connected with corruption scandals, sometimes even in the highest echelons of power. So, a case related to the illegal activities of the former head of the Armed Forces Serdyukov and the case of Oboronservis, when, despite all the evidence gathered, the former minister was acquitted and even returned to the Government, is still heard. In 2016, the Moscow prosecutor's office suspended the work of two arbitration judges in connection with their involvement in corruption activities.

No less high-profile proceedings were associated with the activities of the investigative committee employees M. Maksimenko and A. Lamonov, accused of receiving very large amounts of money from a well-known businessman. For $ 1 million, officials promised to release Andrei Kochuykov, one of the accomplices of the “customer” from the pre-trial detention center.

Scandals

The scandals did not pass by the department itself and its individual units. Some of the stories are quite piquant in nature, for example, a scandal related to the personal life of the prosecutor of the Republic of Crimea Natalya Poklonskaya. The main activities of the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the duties of its employees are governed by the rules and standards of conduct of the entire department, which ensure a positive reputation of this institution. Prosecutors have great power over people and individual situations. Therefore, reports periodically appear in the media about the unscrupulousness of an official.

So, back in 2002-2003, the whole public was outraged by the information that the leadership of Hewlett-Packard had given an impressive bribe to prosecutors for the possibility of delivering a batch of computers and an office equipment specifically made by HP.

No less resonance in the society was caused by the scandal with “protection” by the prosecutors of illegally open casinos in Moscow. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case, which never reached its logical conclusion. The leadership of the department sided with their subordinates, settling the conflict situation.

The prosecutor's office performs important functions in a state of law, oversees the legitimacy of the actions of departments and structures at various levels.