Imperial Procuratorate
The Imperial Procuratorate (Packilvanian: luProkhutariyat luShahitishme) is an entity of the government of Packilvania responsible for investigating and litigating criminal cases in the judiciary of Packilvania.
History
In the early 18th century CE, Sultan Saidun II established the Imperial Court of Inquisitions or simply the Inquisitorial Court to identify and investigate non-believers. These officials who were known as the Inquisitors, were empowered to enter private and public property, to arrest and question people and to charge people with the crimes of apostasy, and heresy. The Inquisitors were permitted to have people imprisoned, lashed or executed without trial. The Crown employed people based on its own requirements. The Council of Great Magisters under Supreme Magister Tawak III sent the Sultan a letter protesting the establishment and work of this body because it did not consist of Magisters and was under the authority of secular officials. The Council argued that according the canon law and the scriptures of Paxism, the Magisterium is granted the sole power to judge matters of faith and that the Sultan's action were in violation of the religious law.
Supreme Magister Tawak III stated that he would offer sanctuary to anyone accused of a crime by the Imperial Court of Inquisitions allowing anyone to seek safety in a Majhid. Officials of the Inquisitorial Court were forbidden from entering and were required to present the charges to the Imams and Magisters. The Sultan passed a decree to empower the Inquisitors to enter the body and arrest Magisters who protected them. The Council threatened to excommunicate the Sultan. The Sultan eventually reneged and signed a concordat with the Supreme Magister whereby the Inquisitors could not enter Majhids, or trial people for religious crimes. Instead crimes under canon law had to be tried by the Magisterium. Thus, the body emerged as it does now. Its powers expanded and it focuses solely on arguing and investigating cases while delegating detention to the Marshals and Guards of the Crown spread throughout the country. This formally separated procuratorial and inquisitorial powers from the peace officers who arrest criminals and maintain order. This indirectly gave rise to the formation of the modern police service.
With this body's duties expanding, the Inquisitorial Court became populated almost entirely by lawyers who wrote the Imperial Inquisitorial Examination and were formally appointed by the Crown. When the Packilvanian Communist Party took over the country, the National People's Congress passed a law disestablishing the Inquisitorial Court. In its place, it founded a similar body called the People's Procuratorate. However, it was initially only staffed with people who had political education and were members of the party. The People's Procuratorate accused so many people of crimes and the People's Courts that were established at the time were so cruel and incompetent, that millions were sentenced to prison and death for various crimes such as having the incorrect political thought or political dissent. The People's Procuratorate was able to exercise terror over the population that led to the Red Terror between 1917 and 1930 that lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
The Politburo Standing Committee of the Packilvanian Communist Party began losing control of the body. During the reign of Medayin Ishikan as the General Secretary of the PCP, the body's many volunteers were dismissed and the professionalisation of the body began. Policies to systematically exterminate and displace humans and other minorities ramped up in the mid-20th century CE. The People's Procuratorate was responsible for identifying many of them. Because the body was bogged down with too much work and its leaders feared integrating volunteers or unskilled people as procurators, the Politburo Standing Committee established the Commission for Population Registration and Control. The Commission took over the implementation of the largest genocide in the history of Urth, leaving the Procuratorate to focus on crime.
When the Packilvanian Communist Party handed the country over to the Carriers of Mercy, the People's Procuratorate remained largely unchanged except for the changing of its senior officials who were replaced with members of the Carriers to oversee reforms. The Parliament of Packilvania passed a law renaming the People's Procuratorate to the Imperial Procuratorate. They undertook a gradual process of integrating the body into the new political system.
Governance
The Imperial Procuratorate is established by the Constitution of Packilvania but the Parliament of Packilvania may pass laws detailing its powers and functions in line with the Constitution. The Imperial Procuratorate Act and its amendments set out how the body works. It is independent of any other executive bodies. It is accountable only to the Parliament of Packilvania.
The Sultan appoints the National and Provincial Directors of the Imperial Procuratorate for terms of 5 years that are renewable with the approval of a simple majority of the Legislative Council. The National Director of the Imperial Procuratorate is the chief executive officer of the body. Together, the National and Provincial Directors compose the Supreme Council of the Imperial Procuratorate which has decides on certain matters.
The National Director is granted the sinecure Lord Imperial Procurator (muProkhut muNabeel muShahitishme) while the Provincial Directors have the sinecure Chief Imperial Procurator (muProkhut muSharif muShahitishme). Each Province is divided into Regions that have a Regional Director, and regions are divided into Districts that have a District Director, each municipality has a Municipal Director while sections of a municipal have a Sectional Director.
At each level (National, Provincial, Regional, District, Municipal and Sectional) there are Procurators whose duties and powers increase, the higher they climb in the ranks as they can bring cases to courts at that level. They write exams and undergo various interviews that test their competence for more senior positions throughout the progression of their careers. They have the right to bring charges to a court, to ask the court to order the arrest of any person, seizure of their property, their appearance before a court or peace officer, and ask the court to permit advanced interrogation techniques, etc. They can certify and notarise documents. They are qualified to teach the law, assess legal practitioners, to sit on the provincial and national commissions for the appointment and discipline of judges and magistrates, act as prison inspectors, and as commissioners of law.
Procurators can also give certain directions to law enforcement regarding methods and scope of investigation, and have the right to request access to the evidence. They often have clerks who help them prepare their cases, file their charges, compose and submit their reports, identify and summon witnesses, and manage other administrative duties. Procurators are all civil servants employed by the government. They cannot present arguments to a judge. Their job is to simply present evidence. Judges can cross-examine witnesses and they apply their own mind to determine the verdict of a case.
Professional members
Members who are permitted to bring cases to courts are known as Imperial Procurators. They can only bring cases to certain types and levels of courts based on experience and appointment. They bring . Procurators need to have a valid law degree from a university in Packilvania. They write exams and undergo interviews when positions as procurators are made available. They rise through the ranks based on experience and performance under assessment processes determined by the body.