The Public Ministry, prior to the constitutional reforms that regulated its operation, was integrated into the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, in accordance with Decree 512 of the Congress of the Republic.

In 1993, the State of Guatemala took a substantial turn in the way of organizing the penal system to confront criminality in our country, divided the tasks of prosecution, investigation, and criminal prosecution into different organs to establish a system of checks and balances that would eliminate the arbitrariness and abuse of power that was observed during the validity of the previous system.

The Public Ministry, as a result of the constitutional reform of 1992, became an autonomous body in charge of prosecuting and prosecuting public criminal proceedings. The Criminal Procedure Code that came into force in 1994, brought with it a series of functions and responsibilities for the Public Ministry, all of which are summarized in two large areas: powers of directing the investigation in the so-called preparatory stage and, the prosecution powers for the exercise of the criminal prosecution itself.

Taking into consideration that the Constitutional Reform and the criminal procedure reform conceive the Public Ministry as an autonomous entity, Decree No. 40-94 "Organic Law of the Public Ministry" was issued, which defines the Public Ministry as an institution that promotes criminal prosecution , directs the investigation of crimes of public action and ensures strict compliance with the laws of the country.

With the signing of the Letter of Intent in September 1997, the Public Ministry integrates the Coordinating Instance for the Modernization of the Justice Sector (ICMSJ), together with the Judicial Organism, the Institute of Public Criminal Defense and the Ministry of the Interior with the purpose that permanently the high authorities of the penal system maintain a coordination to give solutions to the problems that the implementation of the new procedural system would cause.

MISSION: They are an institution with autonomous functions, which promotes criminal prosecution, directs and investigates crimes of public action, acting and ensuring strict compliance with the laws, with responsibility, ethics, objectivity and impartiality, in order to contribute to the application of a prompt and fulfilled justice.

VISION: To be an institution with high standards of continuous quality in case management, with gender equality, ethnic and age relevance, a high degree of human sensitivity and a victimological approach, consolidating prompt and fulfilled justice, in the direct fight against crime, corruption and impunity.