The position of the attorney of the state according to the legal regulation effective since 1 January 2002

In her article the author deals with the position of the attorney of the state in the process of criminal pro­ceedings after the criminal legal order was amended by the law No. 265/2001 Coll. coming into effect on 1 January 2002. She concentrates on the key changes in the position of the attorney oj the state as they are drawn in the new test of the law. She divides these pro­blems into two problem areas: 1) the state attorney's position in the preparatory proceedings, and 2) the sta­te attorney's position in the proceedings in court. The author highlights the fact that the state attorney's po­sition was made stronger virtually at all the stages of criminal proceedings, which she illustrates by providing an enumeration and interpretation of new authoriza­tions that the law entitles the attorney of the state to (for instance the authorization of the Attorney Gene­ral to put in pleas). At the same time, she mentions the fact that there is a simultaneous increase of the state attorney's duties (for instance the duty to deli­ver the decision to terminate criminal proceedings and to forward the matter to the Attomey General's Office withín five days after the decision becomes effective).