What does a Public Prosecution Officer do?
A Public Prosecution Officer ("OMP") is a police officer (commissioner, superintendent or captain) who comes under the administrative authority of the departmental public security directorate and under the judicial authority of the Public Prosecutor.
The Officer's duties include:
prosecuting offences committed or prosecuted within the court's jurisdiction on behalf of society;
Requesting a penalty during hearings for offences subject to the fixed fine procedure;
Judging the admissibility of appeals against fixed penalty notices, and rejecting them if they do not comply with the appeal procedure (e.g. insufficient grounds, appeal made too late, original notice not sent with the appeal and/or deposit, documents sent by ordinary post instead of with acknowledgement of receipt, etc.), dismissing an appeal, or referring it to the local judge. The Officer is also the only person who can decide whether an increased fixed fine can be reduced to its initial amount.