The competence of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Brno complies with the competence of the Supreme Court. The Prosecutor General’s Office supervises the activity of the High Public Prosecutor’s Offices, deals with motions of complaints against the violation of law in criminal cases and with reviewing these cases on its own initiative. It also releases explanatory opinions in the form of recommendations, and it deals with concrete application problems with which public prosecutors are confronted in practice in both the criminal and non-criminal areas.

The Prosecutor General’s Office releases decisions and opinions on the interpretation of laws and other legal regulations that are published in the Collection of Court Decisions and Opinions, or in cases when a legal question calls for a unification of the interpretation or, in cases of different court decisions even on issues concerning different divisions of the Supreme Court in proceedings on the acknowledgement and enforceability  of the decision of foreign courts in Czech territory. If called for by the law or an international agreement. The Prosecutor General’s Office is represented in Eurojust, and it is also a member of the Network of General Prosecutors of the EU member states.

Apart from the above mentioned competence, there are also specific powers of the Prosecutor General, such as:

Issuing General Instructions

General Instructions serve for the unification and regulation of the procedure of public prosecutors in performing their competence or in providing for a unified internal organization of the public prosecution service and a unified performance of the filing service. General Instructions relate to more matters of a certain kind, not to one specific matter, and are binding for public prosecutors, and if the Prosecutor General decides, they are also binding for other employees of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. General Instructions are published in the Collection of Instructions of the Ministry of Justice, then in the ASPI system in electronic form, and also on the Internet ages of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Issuing opinions on the unification of the interpretation of laws and other legal enactments

The Prosecutor General can release opinions on the unification of practice in implementing the regulations of the substantive and procedural criminal law, or regulations of the non-criminal competence. These opinions serve for the explanation of controversial questions concerning the exercise of competence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. These opinions are not binding like those formulated by case law of courts.

Order to review closed cases

The Prosecutor General can order the Prosecutor General’s Office or authorize other Public Prosecutor’s Offices to review closed cases, which were handled by the relevant Public Prosecutor’s Office, and to take corrective measures in case of deviation. A closed case is a case, in which no remedial measure can be taken, or a casethat was submitted to other body to decide, i.e. the Public Prosecutor’s Office is no longer involved in the case. The results of the review of closed cases can give incentive to the Prosecutor General to use any other competence under Section 12 of the Act on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, especially sub-sections 1 and 4. There is also a possibility to proceed according to other legal regulations, such as a motion to open a disciplinary procedure (Section 8 (5) a) of the Act no. 7/2002 Coll., on Proceedings Concerning Judges, Public Prosecutors, and Executors). A petitioner is not legally entitled to have a case reviewed. It is a facultative competence of the Prosecutor General, which is used in addition to the institute of supervision.

Incentive to the Supreme Court to formulate an opinion on the interpretation of law or another legal enactment

If the Prosecutor General’s Office discovers inconsistent court decisions the Prosecutor General is authorized to submit a proposal to the Supreme Court to formulate an opinion on the interpretation of law or another legal enactment in the interest of consistent judicial decisions.

Action to protect public interest

The action for protection of public interest must be brought before a Regional Court which is located in the district of the administrative authority, which has decided in the case, within three years after the decision against which the action is brought came to full force and effect. It is therefore necessary to appeal to the Prosecutor General, who can file the action. However, this competence of the Prosecutor General is facultative.

Recognition of final and effective foreign decisions

The Prosecutor General’s Office is entitled to enter proceedings on recognition of final and effective foreign decisions in marital matters.

Abolishing unlawful resolutions according to Section 174a of Criminal Procedure Code

Section 174a of Criminal Procedure Code authorizes the Prosecutor General to abolish unlawful resolutions of lower public prosecutors on discontinuation of criminal prosecution, on transfer of the case or decisions not to prosecute a suspect according to Section 159d (1) of Criminal Procedure Code, within three months after full force and effect of the relevant resolution. If the Prosecutor General abolishes such a resolution, the proceeding will be continued by the public prosecutor who decided the case in the first instance. The public prosecutor is bound by the legal opinion formulated by the Prosecutor General his decision. He is also obliged to take actions and make supplementation ordered by the Prosecutor General.

Filing an extraordinary appeal under Section 265d (1) a) of Criminal Procedure Code

Extraordinary appeal (Section 265a et seq. of Criminal Procedure Code) is an extraordinary remedial measure, which can challenge a final and effective judgment of court in the merit of the case, if the case was decided by court in the second instance (e.g. the extraordinary appeal may not be filed against a judgment of court of first instance, which came to full force and effect without being tried by court of second instance).

Prosecutor general may file an extraordinary appeal based on a petition of a Regional or High Public Prosecutor or even without such petition on the grounds of incorrectness of any statement in the decision of court, both to the benefit and to the detriment of the accused person.