Specialised State Prosecutor's Office

The Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia was established by the State Prosecutor’s Office Act in 2011. It was developed from the former Group of State Prosecutors for the Prosecution of Organised Crime. The Group was organised within the framework of the Office of the State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia as a special organisational unit with jurisdiction over the entire territory of the state.

The Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office is organisationally and functionally separate from the Office of the State Prosecutor General. The Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office has the status of a District State Prosecutor’s Office with territorial jurisdiction over the entire Slovenian territory. Its subject matter jurisdiction is determined by law. The most serious criminal offences, whose prosecution calls for special organisation and qualifications of state prosecutors and the highest level of performance, are dealt with by the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office. The Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office is competent for the prosecution of perpetrators of serious criminal offences against the economy, offences subject to punishment of ten years of imprisonment or a more severe punishment if the criminal act is committed within a criminal association; criminal offences involving corruption, the criminal offence of terrorism, and criminal offences entailing establishing slavery relations and human trafficking. The Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office has exclusive competence for filing and presenting the lawsuit in the procedure for the forfeiture of assets of illegal origin or in connection therewith and for filing the relevant motions and representing the state in a subsequent civil enforcement procedure.

The Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office as a rule operates under the principle of team work such that in dealing with particular matters it brings together the knowledge, qualifications and experience of its members in specific legal fields, to the extent required to efficiently direct and investigate criminal acts and prepare indictments. The state prosecutorial service at the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office is performed by appointed or seconded state prosecutors. The head of the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office may propose that a state prosecutor from a District State Prosecutor’s Office that would otherwise have territorial jurisdiction to deal with the particular case be additionally assigned to the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office to participate in dealing with a particular case. In such appointment, transfer and secondment, the following is taken into consideration: the length of state prosecutorial service, the final evaluation on the state prosecutorial service and professional experience in the area of dealing with the cases within the jurisdiction of the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office. The same as for the District State Prosecutor’s Offices, external candidates may be appointed to a vacant post of prosecutor in the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office. The appointment follows the same general procedure as for the appointment of a new state prosecutor. The comparable professional career and comparable experience in the area of dealing with the cases within the jurisdiction of the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office are taken into consideration.

According to the law, the Department for the Investigation and Prosecution of Officials with Special Authorisations (hereinafter: the Specialised Department) shall operate as an independent internal organisational unit with a special status within the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office. The Specialised Department operates under the principle of professional and operational autonomy. The Specialised Department has exclusive territorial and subject matter jurisdiction to deal with criminal offences when these are committed by officials pertaining to the Police and the Military Police, vested with police powers in pretrial proceedings seconded to missions abroad, pertaining to the intelligence and security services of the Ministry of Defence and pertaining to the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency.

The tasks of the detection and investigation of criminal offences within the competence of the Specialised Department are carried out by the police officers of the Specialised Department. These police officers have police powers in pre-trial proceedings. For the purpose of implementing the tasks of the detection and investigation of criminal offences within the competence of the Specialised Department, police officers exercise all police powers and tasks as determined by the act governing the Police and by the act governing criminal proceedings, and regulations adopted on the basis thereof.

In addition to the Specialised Department, the law established the Department for Proceedings Regarding the Forfeiture of Assets of Illegal Origin (Civil and Financial Department). The Civil and Financial Department cooperates with District State Prosecutor’s Offices that have territorial and subject matter jurisdiction to conduct pre-trial proceedings and criminal proceedings related to the suspicion of the existence of assets of illegal origin or financial investigations pursuant to the law on the forfeiture of assets of illegal origin.

A (civil) state attorney may be seconded to the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office to perform more demanding expert tasks within the jurisdiction of the Civil and Financial Department. The State Prosecutorial Council takes a decision on the secondment of the state attorney on the proposal of the Head of the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office. The State Prosecutorial Council’s decision is, together with the proposal, sent to the State Attorney General (the civil law state attorney). The State Attorney General decides on the secondment pursuant to the provision of the law on judicial service regarding the transfer and secondment of a judge. The State Attorney General needs to obtain the state attorney’s consent for the secondment as well as the opinion of the head of the department where state attorney works. A state attorney who is seconded to perform demanding expert tasks within the jurisdiction of the Civil and Financial Department keeps his right to use the title of state attorney. The corresponding duties of the state attorney are not suspended, but during this time he may be fully or partly exempted from the performance of the tasks of state attorneys.

In addition to the Specialised Department and the Civil and Financial Department, the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office is organised in another three organisational units: the General Crime Department, the Economic Crime Department, and the Economic Corruption department.