Every criminal lawsuit starts with a preliminary judicial inquiry or a preliminary proceeding. The public prosecutor's office initiates this if it believes there are indications that a crime has been committed.
This is called initial suspicion ("Anfangsverdacht"). An initial suspicion may exist because someone files a criminal complaint or if the public prosecutor's office or the police learn of a possible criminal offence in another way, such as through a tip-off.
During the preliminary judicial inquiry, the public prosecutor's office tries to establish what actually happened. The police supports the public prosecutor's office in this, such as by questioning witnesses. At the end of the preliminary judicial inquiry, the public prosecutor's office, based on the established facts, decides whether to bring charges or close the case.
Find out more about filing a complaint, making a statement and the work of the police during the preliminary judicial inquiry.
To preliminary judicial inquiry