Supreme State Prosecutor's Office

State Prosecutor General

Drago Šketa

State Prosecutor General

I was born on 11 January 1969 into a working family in Maribor and  studied at the Faculty of Law in Maribor. I was awarded the Zois scholarship for gifted students, and later received a scholarship from the Ministry of Justice. In 1995, I graduated from Maribor Faculty of Law and received the Chancellor Award of the University of Maribor for the best student of the generation at the faculty.

After completing my degree, I was a legal trainee at Maribor Higher Court for two years, and passed the state bar examination in 1997.

I have been an expert associate at Maribor District Court since 1997, where I worked in the fields of minor economic offences and international legal assistance and at the Commercial Civil Section. In 1998, I continued my work as an expert associate at the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Maribor in the Economic Crime Section and the General Criminal Section.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed me an Assistant District State Prosecutor in 2001. In 2004, I was appointed a District State Prosecutor at the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Maribor. In the same year, I was appointed head of the section for the alternative resolution of criminal procedures and the issue of punitive orders.

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia appointed me Deputy Head of the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Maribor in 2008. Two years later, the Government appointed me Head of the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Maribor. I was re-appointed to this position by the State Prosecutorial Council in 2016.

In addition to my management duties, I also dealt with a wider range of criminal offences from various fields of criminal law in my work and tasks as Head of the District State Prosecutor’s Office.

On the basis of the State Prosecutor Act (ZDT-1), I acquired the title of Higher State Prosecutor in 2011 and became a member of the State Prosecutorial Council. I was the Council’s Vice-President from 2015 until my appointment as the State Prosecutor General.

In addition to the above functions and on the basis of a proposal from the State Prosecutor General and the decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in 2012, I was appointed President of the Working Group for the Economic Crime Management Strategy of the Republic of Slovenia and the Custodian of the Decree on the cooperation of the state prosecutorial service, Police and other competent state bodies and institutions in the detection and prosecution of perpetrators of criminal offences and operation of specialised and joint investigation teams. In the above group, which incorporated twelve ministries, offices and agencies, I harmonised activities in procedures for detecting criminal offences and activities connected to similar issues.

I was a member of the honorary disciplinary tribunal of the Association of State Prosecutors of Slovenia.

With my active participation and by commenting on existing positive law, I tried to influence the regulation of criminal law.

I have participated at many international conferences, symposiums, working consultations and coordination meetings in various international institutions and bodies. I have also lectured and held workshops for state prosecutors. I have written numerous expert articles concerning prosecutors’ work and legal norms relating to criminal legislation.

My vision as a state prosecutor includes the belief that good results are achieved by hard work, perseverance and investing in knowledge. I am certain that the above qualities contribute to the positive image of every prosecutor and of the prosecution service as a whole. Through my work, I have always striven to set a good example to my colleagues and everyone with whom I have cooperated, and as the Prosecutor General, I merely wish to be the first among equals in the prosecution service.

I received an accolade for my work from my predecessor in the position of  Prosecutor General, and a gold medal from both the Police for cooperation, conferred on me by the Minister of the Interior, and from the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

Drago ŠKETA

 

Competences

  • adopts an enforcement policy after prior reasoned opinion of the State Prosecutorial Council;
  • issues general instructions, with which in the context of a certain enforcement policy the conditions, criteria and special circumstances affecting decisions of state prosecutors are defined in greater detail;
  • issues general instructions for the work of state prosecutors in dealing with cases. General instructions concern the uniform application of the law, guidance or equalisation of enforcement policy and providing information at the state prosecutors' offices;
  • proposes criteria to be adopted by the State Prosecutor's Council regarding the quality of work of state prosecutors for the assessment of the state prosecutorial service and criteria for the performance of enforcement of state prosecutors' offices;
  • supervises the implementation of affairs of state prosecutorial management at state prosecutors' offices;
  • orders the extent and manner of performing a partial expert inspection to be carried out to assess the duties of an individual state prosecutor or to assess the quality of work and effectiveness of law enforcement in particular types of cases, or for the analysis of the implementation or preparation of laws and other regulations;
  • may appoint a different local competent state prosecutor's office to act in individual cases;
  • submits a proposal to the competent minister for an order on the number of positions for state prosecutors and titles for the state prosecutorial service at individual state prosecutors' offices;
  • decides on the allocation and termination of the assignment of a state prosecutor to another state prosecutor's office;
  • proposes the relocation of a state prosecutor;
  • gives a prior opinion on the appointment of heads of a district state prosecutor's office;
  • gives an opinion on the dismissal of heads of a district state prosecutor's office;
  • on a proposal from the national representative in Eurojust, issues an order on taking over cases which have already been assigned to be dealt with by another state prosecutor if this is necessary for efficient handling;
  • may submit initiatives to the disciplinary prosecutor to institute disciplinary proceedings;
  • may make requests to institute disciplinary proceedings;
  • may impose temporary removal of state prosecutors from the state prosecutor's service (suspension);
  • must be immediately informed by the court which orders the detention of a state prosecutor;
  • awards recognitions to state prosecutors for special achievements or endeavours, and for successfully completing demanding projects within their competence or performance of duties or authorisations;
  • prepares joint annual reports on the work of state prosecutors' offices;
  • forwards notices on the work of state prosecutors to the media by means of written communication or by calling press conferences or by other appropriate means;
  • may inform the public about the state of individual cases dealt with by the state prosecutor's office if this does not affect the course of the proceedings, the secrecy of proceedings or persons’ privacy;
  • on their own initiative or on a proposal from the head of the state prosecutor's office, issues a statement for the public which warns that certain information or comments published in the media severely threaten or violate the constitutional right to the presumption of innocence of suspects in pre-trial proceedings, the constitutional right to the presumption of innocence of persons dealt with in criminal proceedings, the independence of state prosecutors' offices, or the operation of state prosecutors' offices on the basis of the Constitution and the law.

Office of the State Prosecutor General

 

Drago ŠKETA

Prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia

Boris OSTRUH

Deputy Prosecutor General

Supreme State Prosecutor

Gaja ŠTOVIČEJ

Director-General of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office