Difference between Prosecutors and Attorney General

Table of contents

Prosecutor

What does a prosecutor do?

Functions of the prosecutor

Duties and Responsibilities of the prosecutor

Attorney General

Duties of the Attorney General

Responsibilities of the Attorney General

Conclusion
Prosecutor

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either
the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the
legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of
breaking the law. The prosecutor typically represents the government in the case brought against
the accused person.Prosecutors are typically lawyers who possess a law degree, and are
recognized as legal professionals by the court in which they intend to represent society (that is,
they have been admitted to the bar).They usually only become involved in a criminal case once a
suspect has been identified and charges need to be filed. They are typically employed by an
office of the government, with safeguards in place to ensure such an office can successfully
pursue the prosecution of government officials. Often, multiple offices exist in a single country,
especially those countries with federal governments where sovereignty has been bifurcated or
devolved in some way.Since prosecutors are backed by the power of the state, they are usually
subject to special professional responsibility rules in addition to those binding all lawyers. For
example, in the United States, Rule 3.8 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional
Conduct requires prosecutors to "make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or
information ... that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense." Not all U.S.
states adopt the model rules; however, U.S. Supreme Court cases and other appellate cases have
ruled that such disclosure is required. Typical sources of ethical requirements imposed on
prosecutors come from appellate court opinions, state or federal court rules, and state or federal
statutes (codified laws).

What Does a Prosecutor Do?

When a person committed a crime, a prosecutor for the city, county or state is then given the case
to prepare it for all the steps of the trial process. Depending on the type of the crime, there may
be a lead prosecutor as well as a deputy prosecutor who work it. Together they go through all the
evidence in the case, set up meetings with witnesses to interview them and gather facts about
what happened. They work to build up a sound case against the defendant that will hold up in a
court of law.There are many stages to a criminal case and typically the first hearing is a bond
hearing where the judge determines how much bail should be set for the defendant. The next step
is a bit more complicated and requires more work for the prosecutor. This is the preliminary
hearing where the prosecutor shows their case to the judge to determine whether or not there is
enough evidence to go to trial for the crime. This requires witnesses to be called in to give
testimony which is also refuted by the defense team in the form of cross examination. Once this
process has gone through, the judge will rule on the case and set a date for the next step of the
trial process.The next step is the formal charging of a defendant and where they are allowed to
plea guilty or not guilty. There is not much that the prosecutors do except to give the charges to
the judge who then asks the defendant what they plea. If the defense team is willing, the next
step is pretrial negotiations and this is where many cases get resolved before they even go to
trial. If the prosecutors are confident that they can get a judge or jury to side with them, they may
refuse any plea offers. A plea typically means the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge
which means less jail time in most cases. If a plea deal cannot be arranged then the prosecutors’
real work begins and they begin preparing for a full trial.

The Function of the Prosecutor

 The office of prosecutor is charged with responsibility for prosecutions in its jurisdiction.

 The prosecutor is an administrator of justice, an advocate, and an officer of the court; the
prosecutor must exercise sound discretion in the performance of his or her functions.

 The duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict.

 It is an important function of the prosecutor to seek to reform and improve the

administration of criminal justice. When inadequacies or injustices in the substantive or
procedural law come to the prosecutor's attention, he or she should stimulate efforts for
remedial action.

 It is the duty of the prosecutor to know and be guided by the standards of professional
conduct as defined by applicable professional traditions, ethical codes, and law in the
prosecutor's jurisdiction.
Duties and Responsibilities of the prosecutor

Dealing with criminal cases

1. Investigation: According to Article 228, Criminal Procedure Code, a prosecutor shall

investigate immediately when he is aware of law-offending cases through complaint,
reporting, surrender of the suspect and other sources. Public prosecution, non-indictment
or transfer of the case shall be made after the investigation.
2. Indictment: A prosecutor shall prepare public indictment against the suspects after
investigation and forward the case to the court for trial. Implementation on pleas of the
crown: In every case, the prosecutor must participate in cross-examination and
justification on the court during the judicial process.
3. Acting as a prosecutor: A prosecutor shall act as a prosecutor on behalf of the state
against criminal offenders. He shall present at the court on the trial and state the main
points of indictment after the accused is interrogated by the judge. He shall maintain his
opinions after the court investigation on evidence is made. He shall appeal to the higher
court if he considers the court decision unjustifiable to effect eventual justice.
4. Assisting in a private prosecution: A victim filing a criminal suit directly with the court is
called private prosecution. According to Criminal Procedure Code, a victim may file a
lawsuit with the court. The lawsuit also may be filed by the legal-representative, lineal
relatives or spouse of the victim if he is of incapacity, prohibition or dead. The prosecutor
shall state the facts or his opinion at the trial on the date announced by the court if he
believes it is important for the interest of the state and society to offer assistance to the
private prosecutor.
5. Taking over private prosecutions: Where a private prosecution is unable to proceed or
withdrawn on account of profit offered or threat exerted by the defendant, the prosecutor
shall take over the case and carry on the prosecution if he considers detrimental otherwise
unless the suit can only be instituted by the private suitor.
6. Directing the enforcement of criminal decision: The prosecutor has the responsibility of
directing the enforcement of criminal decision made by the court for the enforcement of
state penalty, efficiency and justice of law.
Prosecution hierarchy:

Prosecutor general

Additional prosecutor general

Deputy prosecutor general

District public prosecutor

Assistant district prosecutor

Public prosecutor

Assistant public prosecutor

Attorney General

The Attorney-General for Pakistan (A.G.),is the chief law officer and legal advisor of
the Government of Pakistan and enjoys rights of audience before Parliament. The Attorney-
General is nominated by thePrime Minister and appointed by the President.
The Constitution bars the Attorney General from private practice until the termination of his or
her employment The office was established in 1947.The attorney general (sometimes abbreviated
as AG)) is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions they may also
have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal
affairs generally. The attorney-general personally provides legal advice to the government varies
between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction,
often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.

The current Attorney-General, AshtarAusaf Ali, was nominated by Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif and assumed charge on 29 March 2016.

List of Attorney General

Duties of the Attorney General

The mission of the Office of the Attorney General is to supervise and direct the administration
and operation of the Department of Justice,

The principal duties of the Attorney General are to:

 Represent the United States in legal matters.

 Supervise and direct the administration and operation of the offices, boards, divisions,
and bureaus that comprise the Department.

 Furnish advice and opinions, formal and informal, on legal matters to the President and
the Cabinet and to the heads of the executive departments and agencies of the
government, as provided by law.

 Make recommendations to the President concerning appointments to federal judicial

positions and to positions within the Department, including U.S. Attorneys and U.S.
Marshals.
  Represent or supervise the representation of the United States Government in the
Supreme Court of the United States and all other courts, foreign and domestic, in which
the United States is a party or has an interest as may be deemed appropriate.

 Perform or supervise the performance of other duties required by statute or Executive

Order.

Responsibilities of the Attorney General

The Attorney General,

 is the Law Officer of the Executive Council;

 shall see that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with the law;

 shall superintend all matters connected with the administration of justice in Ontario;

 shall perform the duties and have the powers that belong to the Attorney General and
Solicitor General of England by law and usage, so far as those powers and duties are
applicable to Ontario, and also shall perform the duties and powers that, until
the Constitution Act, 1867 came into effect, belonged to the offices of the Attorney
General and Solicitor General in the provinces of Canada and Upper Canada and which,
under the provisions of that Act, are within the scope of the powers of the Legislature;

 shall advise the Government upon all matters of law connected with legislative
enactments and upon all matters of law referred to him or her by the Government;

 shall advise the Government upon all matters of a legislative nature and superintend all
Government measures of a legislative nature;
 shall advise the heads of ministries and agencies of Government upon all matters of law
connected with such ministries and agencies;

 shall conduct and regulate all litigation for and against the Crown or any ministry or
agency of government in respect of any subject within the authority or jurisdiction of the
Legislature;

 shall superintend all matters connected with judicial offices;

 Shall perform such other functions as are assigned to him or her by the Legislature or by
the Lieutenant Governor in Council."
Hierarchy of attorney general of Pakistan:

Attorney general of Pakistan

Deputy assistant general of

Pakistan

At District level:

District attorney

Deputy attorney

Assistant deputy district attorney

 Conclusion

Prosecutor deals with the criminal cases. Prosecutor is the legal advisor and lawyer in the
courts.The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either
the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the
legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of
breaking the law. The prosecutor typically represents the government in the case brought against the
accused person.Prosecutors are typically lawyers who possess a law degree, and are recognized as
legal professionals by the court in which they intend to represent society.

The Attorney-General for Pakistan (A.G.),is the chief law officer and legal advisor of
the Government of Pakistan and enjoys rights of audience before Parliament. The Attorney-General
is nominated by thePrime Minister and appointed by the President. The Constitution bars the
Attorney General from private practice until the termination of his or her employment The office
was established in 1947. And If the state department involve in the case then that case will be
defended by attorney.