State's Attorney Office of the Republic of Croatia ( or DORH) is an autonomous and independent judicial body empowered and duty-bound to instigate prosecution of perpetrators of criminal and other penal offences, to initiate legal measures to protect the property of the Republic of Croatia and to apply legal remedies to protect the Croatian Constitution and laws.
DORH is a unique judicial body that has authority over the whole Croatian territory. Its head is an Attorney General who has deputies. DORH headquarters are in Zagreb, but it is also decentralized and is thus divided into 22 municipal and 15 county offices. Nevertheless, it is a strictly hierarchically structured body, so municipal offices are subordinated to the county offices, while county offices are subordinated to the central office in Zagreb. In addition, Croatian State Prosecutor's Office for the Suppression of Organized Crime and Corruption (USKOK) is a special body of DORH specialized in investigations related to corruption and organized crime.
Organization and jurisdiction
Organization and jurisdiction of the State's Attorney Office are regulated with The Act on the State's Attorney Office.
The State's Attorney Office competent in criminal proceedings is obligated to prosecute and represent the charges against perpetrators of criminal acts which are prosecuted ex officio or upon the proposal and undertake other actions defined by the law. The competent State's Attorney Office acts in misdemeanor proceedings in line with the powers granted to it under the law. A competent State's Attorney Office represents the Republic of Croatia in the protection of assets and other rights in the civil and administrative matters, unless otherwise determined by law or the decision of a competent state body.
The Municipal Offices represent Croatia in the proceedings before a municipal court, a misdemeanor court and administrative bodies, County Offices represent Croatia in the proceedings before a county, administrative and commercial court, while the Central Office represents Croatia, and oversees and protects the rule of law and proceeds with all actions before the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, High Administrative Court, High Commercial Court, High Misdemeanor Court, and international and foreign justice and other bodies.
Structure of DORH
DORH consist of: (Central) State's Attorney Office of the Republic of Croatia (DORH) 15 county State's Attorney Offices (in Bjelovar, Dubrovnik, Karlovac, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka, Sisak, Slavonski Brod, Split, Šibenik, Varaždin, Velika Gorica, Vukovar, Zadar, Zagreb) (ŽDO) 22 municipal State's Attorney Offices (ODO) Croatian State Prosecutor's Office for the Suppression of Organized Crime and Corruption (USKOK)
Internal structure of the central office
The Central office has four departments: 1. Criminal - responsible for taking legal actions against the perpetrators of crimes and other criminal activities 2. Civil and Administrative - responsible for taking legal actions to protect the assets of Croatia, providing legal remedies to protect the Constitution and the laws, representing Croatia in proceedings before courts and administrative bodies, and protecting Croatian property and legal interests 3. for Internal Audit 4. for International Legal Assistance and Cooperation