The Public Prosecution Service ( nl, Openbaar Ministerie, OM; ) is the body of public

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states 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 tria ...

s in the

Dutch criminal justice system The criminal justice system of the Netherlands is the system of practices and institutions of the Netherlands directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties an ...

. The literal translation of ''Openbaar Ministerie'', "Public Ministry", can lead to a misunderstanding, as the OM is not a ministry like the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and ...

. The Public Prosecution Service decides who has to appear in front of the judge and for which offence or

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

. It is the body that can decide to prosecute someone. The main domain of the OM is criminal law rather than

civil law Civil law may refer to: * Civil law (common law), the part of law that concerns private citizens and legal persons * Civil law (legal system), or continental law, a legal system originating in continental Europe and based on Roman law ** Private la ...

. The OM has ten regional offices, directed nationally by the ''College van Procureurs-Generaal'' () in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

. The OM is ultimately responsible to the Minister of Justice and Safety (''Minister van Justitie en Veiligheid''), who together with the college determines the priorities and organisation of the Service.

References

Law enforcement agencies of the Netherlands {{Netherlands-stub