follow the British tradition
Australia was once a British colony and has always followed the common law tradition. Plea system and evidence rules in common law litigation have always had a decisive influence on Australian procuratorial work.
From internal affairs to foreign affairs, there is no subordinate relationship between Australia and Britain, but the Queen of England is still the highest head of state in name. This misnomer is also reflected in the procuratorial system. For example, the prosecutor who appears in court for public prosecution is called Crown inspector, that is, "Crown Prosecutor". During the trial, both judges and defense lawyers often call the prosecutor thecrown, which is "Royal". The Australian prosecution system has a simple and clear explanation for this: crowniscommunity, "royal refers to society."
the federal and state prosecutors have a dual system.
The Commonwealth of Australia consists of six states and two territories, namely, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Capital Territory and Northern Territory. Due to historical reasons, the Australian Constitution gives states and regions great autonomy, but it has more restrictions on federal power. The direct impact of this point on criminal justice is that the federal and state criminal justice systems are basically independent although they are related; The criminal justice systems of different countries have many similarities, and they all attach great importance to mutual cooperation, but they are by no means the same. Naturally, as an important part of the criminal justice system, nine federal and state procuratorates are independent, and nine independent procuratorial systems are composed of their own offices.
Relatively unified
The nine procuratorates in Australia have their own systems and are not subordinate to each other, but all the procuratorates and systems are absolutely unified in name, organizational form, status, tasks and powers. Because of this feature and the similarity of judicial system, although the procuratorial systems of each state are independent of each other, there is no big obstacle in the unified implementation of laws and judicial cooperation.
complaint is the basic function.
The federal and state procuratorates are committed to fair and effective public prosecution. Although "pursuing social fairness and justice, ensuring the good implementation of laws and promoting judicial credibility" is often designed as the task and goal of procuratorial organs, high-quality public prosecution, effectively cracking down on crimes and maintaining public order are the carriers of procuratorial work. The accusation function extends or strictly restricts the relevant duties and powers: for example, deprivation of criminal tools and criminal proceeds is an extension, and non-involvement in investigation is a restriction.
Attorney General and Procuratorate
The Attorney General of Australia is the country's chief legal officer, who is accountable to Parliament for all criminal justice matters in the country. In this sense, the work of the federal procuratorate and the state (district) procuratorate is under the leadership of the state attorney general.
the attorney general has the dual status of an elected member of parliament and a government minister. As a member of parliament, he is responsible to parliament for criminal proceedings; As a minister, we should fully respect the decision of the procurator-general and ensure that he can properly exercise his functions and powers without political influence.
the federal prosecutor's office shall provide the report on the work preparation of the hospital to the attorney general before June 3th every year, and the state (district) prosecutors only provide the annual report to the state chief executive, not to the attorney general.
the state attorney general has the right to issue guidance and instructions to the federal prosecutor's office, but he must communicate with the attorney general in advance. Moreover, during the non-recess period of the parliament, relevant guidance and instructions must be placed in the Senate and the House of Representatives for not less than 15 days. Theoretically, the attorney general also has the right to veto the decision of the procuratorate, but up to now, this right has never been exercised.