In a juvenile suspect case, which bodies may a prosecutor ask to investigate the suspect before deciding on a disposition?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In practice material, we read the prosecutor's demand for an investigation, the papers showing the suspect's residence or the seat of the district public prosecution office that has jurisdiction, and the file recording which dispositions the prosecutor is weighing.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision as a grant to the prosecutor: where an investigation is needed to decide on a disposition — referral to the juvenile chamber, prosecution, or deferred prosecution — the prosecutor may demand an inquiry into the suspect's conduct, history, living environment or other necessary matters from the head of the probation office, the head of a juvenile classification review institute, or the head of a juvenile reformatory.
Another reading stresses the limit in jurisdiction: the demand may go only to the head of the office having jurisdiction over the suspect's residence or the seat of the district public prosecution office, so an inquiry report from another body falls outside what this provision reaches.
Your judgment
How could the file show that the office which received the demand was one of the three bodies named, and that it had jurisdiction over the suspect?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to widen or narrow which bodies may be asked, or if a court decision addresses what makes an investigation necessary for the prosecutor's decision.