🇬🇧 Abstract (English)
The paper examines the origin and development of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia in the mid-19th century. The institution was introduced in Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia almost simultaneously with its establishment in other countries of the civil-law system. This occurred at a time when the function of public prosecution was separated from the courts in criminal proceedings and handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Before turning to the main subject, the paper provides an overview of existing literature on the Public Prosecutor’s Office and examines the emergence of the public prosecution as an institution in England and France.
The author conducts a chronological analysis of the origins of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, presenting public prosecution against criminal offenders on Croatian territory. Under the influence of the French criminal procedure system and during the period of French administration of Dalmatia, Istria, the Karlovac District and Carniola (Slovenia) from 1806 to 1813, the institution of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, separate from courts, was established in these regions for the first time. Its jurisdiction consisted of prosecuting perpetrators of criminal offences. The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Croatia and Slavonia originated in the mid-19th century, when criminal procedures and criminal legislation were reformed. The final reform concerning the Public Prosecutor’s Office was set in stone in 1875 by the Criminal Procedure Act, which defined its powers and jurisdiction.
This paper also presents the internal organisation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as regulated by later statutory provisions dating from 1891, which defined the scope of its work and its authority in civil cases before courts.