PROSECUTORS
in Common Law and Civil Law

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law (1) [England, Ireland, USA, Australia, etc.] adversarial system  or the civil law inquisitorial system  (i.e. those deriving from Roman law or the Napoleonic Code). The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual suspected of breaking the law.

Common law jurisdictions

Prosecutors are typically lawyers who possess a law degree, and are recognized as legal professionals by the court in which they intend to represent the state (the society) (that is, they have been admitted to the bar [alla professione forense]).

They usually only become involved in a criminal case once a suspect has been identified and charges [capi d'accusa, imputazioni] need to be filed (2). They are typically employed by an office of the government, with safeguards in place to ensure such an office can successfully pursue the prosecution of government officials.[...]

Civil law jurisdictions

Prosecutors are typically civil servants [funzionari pubblici] who possess a university degree in law, and additional training in the administration of justice. In some countries, such as France and Italy, they belong to the same corps of civil servants as the judges.

Italy

In Italy, a Prosecutor's Office is composed of a Chief Prosecutor (procuratore capo) assisted by deputy prosecutors  (procuratori aggiunti) and assistant prosecutors (sostituti procuratori).[...]

Prosecutors are obligated under the Constitution to initiate investigations once they are informed of a criminal act by notitia criminis [notizia di reato], or bill of complaint [denuncia]. Investigations are carried out by (judicial) police detectives, and once enough evidence has been gathered in order to proceed, the prosecution must move to initiate trial proceedings.  At trial, the prosecuting attorney is ceremonially referred to as Pubblico Ministero (or P.M.), i.e., Prosecution, and is prohibited from withholding exculpatory evidence [prove a discarico].

In appellate courts, the Office of the Prosecutor is called Procura generale and the Chief Prosecutor procuratore generale (PG). The Procuratore generale di Corte di cassazione is the prosecutor before the Corte di Cassazione, the supreme court of Italy.

Prosecutors in Italy are judicial officers just like judges, allowing them to act in the other's stead. A recent ruling by the Italian Constitutional Court stated that prosecutors who wish to become judges must relocate to another region and are prohibited to sit or hear trials that they themselves initiated.


In many countries, the prosecutor's administration is directly subordinate to the executive branch (e.g. the US Attorney General is a member of the President's cabinet).


(1) The body of precedent is called "common law" and it binds future decisions.

(2) To file a suit against sb.= fare causa a .. / to file= presentare istanza di...

VOCABULARY:

defendant= imputato
Defence Attorney = Avvocato della difesa
Public Prosecutor/Prosecuting Attorney= pubblico ministero
District Attorney (DA)= procuratore distrettuale (con funzioni di pubblico ministero nei processi penali)
to file a charge/complaint = presentare un'accusa/denuncia
to report a crime = denunciare un crimine
preliminary investigation = istruttoria