Editing Prosecutor (section)

== Prosecutor as a legal professional ==
Prosecutors are typically lawyers who possess a [[law degree]] and are recognised as suitable legal professionals by the court in which they are acting. This may mean they have been [[admitted to the bar]] or obtained a comparable qualification where available, such as [[solicitor advocate]]s in [[English law|England law]]. They become involved in a criminal case once a suspect has been identified and [[Indictment|charges]] need to be filed. They are employed by an office of the government, with safeguards in place to ensure such an office can successfully pursue the prosecution of government officials. Multiple offices exist in a single country, especially in those countries with federal governments where sovereignty has been bifurcated or devolved in some way.

Since the power of the state backs prosecutors, they are 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).

===Directors of public prosecutions===
In most [[Commonwealth Nations]], the head of the prosecuting authority is known as the [[director of public prosecutions]] (DPP) and is appointed, not elected. A DPP may be subject to varying degrees of control by the [[attorney general]], a formal written directive which must be published.

In Australia, the Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions institute prosecutions for [[indictable offence]]s on behalf of [[the Crown]].<ref>See ''Director of Public Prosecutions Act'' 1983 (Cth).</ref> At least in the case of very serious matters, the DPP will be asked by the police, during the investigation, to advise them on the sufficiency of evidence and may well be asked to prepare an application to the relevant court for search, listening device or telecommunications interception warrants.

More recent constitutions, such as [[Constitution of South Africa|South Africa's]], guarantee the independence and impartiality of the DPP.