The Prosecutor’s Office is a governmental authority within the area of government of the Ministry of Justice. The Prosecutor’s Office leads pre-trial criminal proceedings, ensuring their lawfulness and effectiveness, represents the public prosecution in court, participates in the planning of surveillance activities required for the prevention and detection of criminal offences and performs other tasks assigned to the Prosecutor’s Office by law.
The Prosecutor’s Office consists of two levels: the Office of the Prosecutor General as the superior prosecutor’s office and five District Prosecutor’s Offices. The Prosecutor’s Office is headed by the Prosecutor General, who is appointed for five years. A District Prosecutor’s Office is headed by a Chief Prosecutor.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has four departments: the Prosecution Department One and Two, the Internal Control Department and the General Administrative Department. The work area of the Office of the Prosecutor General is Estonia as a whole, while the work areas of District Prosecutor’s Offices overlap with those of prefectures.
The Southern District Prosecutor’s Office has three departments: the Department for Grave and Covert Crimes, the Department for General Criminal Offences in Tartu and Jõgeva County and the Department for General Criminal Offences in Viljandi, Valga, Võru and Põlva County.
The Western District Prosecutor’s Office has two departments: the Department for Grave and Covert Crimes and the Department for General Criminal Offences.
The Viru District Prosecutor’s Office has two departments: Department I and Department II.
The Northern District Prosecutor’s Office has three departments: the Department for Drug Related, Grave and Organised Crimes, the Department for Juvenile Crimes and Crimes of Violence Committed in Close Relationships and the Department for General Criminal Offences.
The District Prosecutor's Office for Economic Crime and Corruption has three departments: Department I, II and III.
Activities of the authority
- Prevention,
- participation in networks,
- participation in working groups.
Checking various versions of investigations and qualifications, collecting and evaluating evidence (including in the framework of international cooperation) and implementing various procedural safeguards.
Once the pre-trial proceedings have been completed, a statement of charges is submitted to the court or the criminal proceedings are terminated. When the pre-trial proceedings are completed, the Prosecutor’s Office closes the case or sends a statement of charges to court.
In court proceedings, the Prosecutor’s Office represents the public prosecution. Court proceedings end with a judicial disposition that has entered into force.
Management and staff
The Government of the Republic appointed Andres Parmas to the position of Prosecutor General from 3 February 2020.
Andres Parmas has previously worked in various positions in the Supreme Court and since 1 July 2014 as a judge in the Tallinn Circuit Court. He has international experience in judicial cooperation from the European Union’s mission in Kosovo, as well as from the specialist chambers of the Kosovo court. Since 2003, Andres Parmas has been teaching various criminal law courses at the School of Law of the University of Tartu.
Andres Parmas graduated from Tartu Raatuse Gymnasium in 1996 and from the School of Law of the University of Tartu in 2005.
Andres Parmas is married and a father of three children.
The Prosecutor General manages the Prosecutor’s Office and carries out other tasks assigned to them by law. Once a year, the Prosecutor General submits a report on the activities of the Prosecutor’s Office to the Minister of Justice. Every year, the Prosecutor General submits an overview of the performance of the tasks assigned to the Prosecutor’s Office by law in the previous calendar year to the Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has three Chief State Prosecutors, one of whom is in charge of the Internal Control Department and the other two of the Prosecution Department 1 and 2, respectively. In addition to managing the departments, the Chief State Prosecutor also performs other tasks assigned to them by law. In their area of responsibility, they have the right to give orders to District Prosecutor’s Offices.
In order to perform administrative functions, a General Administrative Department is set up at the Prosecutor’s Office, the establishment of which is approved by the Minister of Justice. The General Administrative Department is headed by the Administrative Director.
A District Prosecutor’s Office is headed by a Chief Prosecutor, while the departments of District Prosecutor’s Offices are headed by Senior Prosecutors. The allocation of the work of prosecutors at District Prosecutor’s Offices is determined by the Chief Prosecutor, after having heard the opinion of district prosecutors.
The Prosecutor General is appointed by the Government of the Republic based on the proposal of the Minister of Justice, after having heard the opinion of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu. The Prosecutor General is appointed for a term of five years. The Chief State Prosecutor, the State Prosecutor and the Chief Prosecutor are appointed by the Minister of Justice based on a proposal from the Prosecutor General. The term of office of the Chief Prosecutor is five years, while the other prosecutors are appointed for an indefinite period.
The staff of the Prosecutor’s Office includes prosecutors, who are in service on the basis of the Prosecutor’s Office Act, and officials and other members of staff employed under the Civil Service Act and the Employment Contracts Act. The Prosecutor’s Office has a total of 316 positions, 195 of which are filled by prosecutors. The number of prosecutors in the Office of the Prosecutor General and the District Prosecutor’s Offices is determined by the minister responsible for the area.
Prosecutors are independent in the performance of their duties and act only on the basis of the law and in accordance with their convictions.
Legislation governing the work of the Prosecutor’s Office
- The Prosecutor’s Office Act regulates the structure, competence, organisation of work and management of the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor's Office Act lays down the status, duties, powers and liability of prosecutors, as well as the procedure for their appointment and dismissal.
- The Statutes of the Prosecutor’s Office set out the internal rules and the principles of work organisation of the Prosecutor’s Office and regulate its management and organisational structure. The Statutes provide an overview of the structure of the Prosecutor’s Office, the positions of prosecutors, their competence and the duties and liability of officials and staff. In addition, they also establish the procedure for the management of the Prosecutor’s Office, including the powers and duties of the Prosecutor General and the procedure for appointing and dismissing positions under their authority.
- The Code of Criminal Procedure lays down the tasks and competence of the Prosecutor’s Office in criminal proceedings. The Code of Criminal Procedure regulates the activities of the Prosecutor’s Office from the initiation of criminal proceedings until the enforcement of a judicial disposition.
In addition to the above, the Prosecutor’s Office is also guided by other laws, such as the Personal Data Protection Act, the Probation Supervision Act and the Penal Code.
The Prosecutor’s Office must also take the legislation of the European Union into consideration in its work, in particular in relation to European cooperation in criminal matters and judicial cooperation between the Member States of the European Union.