87 308. The representatives asserted that the complaints were lodged with the Attorney General’s Office, who as the “only body entitled to publicly prosecute crimes in Venezuela and head of the investigation, is competent to order the opening of the corresponding criminal investigation”. Furthermore, they alleged that most of the cases deals with criminal facts that are publicly known and that while they were happening, they were even broadcasted by Globovisión and other media, constituting notorious facts that should have been investigated ex officio by the Attorney General’s Office, even in those cases where the alleged victims failed to report them by virtue of the principle of officiality related to the monopoly exercised by the Office of Prosecutors General to prosecute criminal actions. 309. Article 285 of the Political Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela establishes, within the so- called "Civic Power" [Poder Ciudadano] (one of the powers of the State), the inherent powers of the Attorney General’s Office, among which is the obligation to order and conduct criminal investigations, as well as "to bring, in the name of the State, criminal charges that do not need to be brought by the request of the party, except for those cases established by law”299. The Basic Code of Criminal Procedure of Venezuela (hereinafter, “COPP”) establishes that the body entitled to prosecute criminal actions is the State, by means of the Attorney General’s Office, "who is bound to exercise such duty, with the legal exceptions”300. There are three kinds of crimes under Venezuelan legislation: those prosecutable on an ex officio basis301, those prosecutable at the prior request of the victim302 and those prosecutable only at the request of a party303. 299 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reprinted due to a material error in the Official Gazette Nº 5453 of March 24, 2000 (volume of evidence XXVIII, pages 6851/2). 300 Basic Code of Criminal Procedure, approved on January 20, 1998, published in the Official Gazette Nº 5208, extraordinary, of January 23, 1998, with a partial amendment approved on August 25, 2000 and published in the Official Gazette Nº 37.022 of that same date and the partial amendment approved on November 12, 2001 and published in the Official Gazette Nº 5558, extraordinary, of November 14, 2001, section 11 (records of evidence, volume XLV, page 13230). 301 Hence, the Venezuelan legislation establishes as a general rule the criminal prosecution on an ex officio basis of illicit facts that are classified as crimes that are publicly actionable. The Venezuelan criminal procedure system determines that an ordinary proceeding of a publicly actionable crime can be initiated on an ex officio basis by the Office of Prosecutors General, in a private suit or at the request of the victim. In this way, section 283 of the COPP provides that “the Office of Prosecutors General, upon hearing of the commission of a publicly actionable crime, shall order the judicial proceedings intended to investigate and record the commission of the crime, together with all the circumstances that may influence in its classification and the responsibility of the perpetrators and other accomplices and the guarantee of active and passive objects related to the commission of the crime". Upon the filing of the complaint, "the prosecutor of the Office of Prosecutors General shall promptly order the opening of the investigation and the judicial proceedings necessary to record the circumstances classified under section 283. By means of such order, the Office of Public Prosecutor shall conduct the investigation ex officio". Cf. Basic Code of Criminal Procedure, supra note 300, sections 24, 283, 285, 292 and 300 (records of evidence, volume XLV, pages 13230, 13245. 302 This second category of crimes shall be prosecuted in accordance with the general rule related to publicly actionable crimes, though he party may desist from the action at any time during the proceeding, which shall extinguish the respective criminal action. Cf. Basic Code of Criminal Procedure, supra note 300, section 26 (records of evidence, volume XLV, page 13231). 303 The Venezuelan Criminal Code specifies the crimes that can be prosecuted in a private suit, whose procedure shall be ruled by the special procedure established in the Basic Code of Criminal Procedure. Hence, certain illicit acts that were classified by the State as crimes prosecutable in a private suit, like threats, slander or libel, may not be prosecuted but as a consequence of the charges brought by the aggrieved party or its legal representatives. In those cases, it is necessary that the victim brings charges before the competent tribunal, by means of a suit, in order to proceed to trial. Nevertheless, the domestic court may obtain judicial help from the Office of Prosecutor General in order to carry out the preliminary investigation if the plaintiff requests in the suit proceedings conducive to identify the defendant, establishes his domicile or residence to prove the illicit act or to gather evidence. Cf., Criminal Code, published in the Official Gazette Nº 5494 Extraordinary, on October 20, 2000, amended by the Partial Reform Law of the Criminal Code of March 3, 2005, published in the Official Gazette Nº 5768 Extraordinary of April 13, 2005, sections 175 in fine and 449 (records of evidence Volume XXVIII, p. 6989