The Public Ministry is an autonomous body of the State and its main functions are the defense of legality, citizen rights and public interests; the representation of society in court, for the purposes of defending the family, minors and the disabled and the social interest, as well as to ensure public morals; the prosecution of crime and civil reparation.

It also ensures the prevention of crime within the limitations that result from the law and for the independence of the judicial bodies and the correct administration of justice and the others indicated by the Political Constitution of Peru and the legal system of the Nation.

The Public Ministry is the holder of the public criminal action, which it exercises ex officio, at the request of the aggrieved party or by popular action, if it is a crime of immediate commission or of those against which the law expressly grants it.