76 . rights, and therefore there investigation and punishment corresponds to the States according to the Constitution.” 295. Article 285 of the Political Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela establishes, within the so-called “Peoples’ Power” (one of the powers of the State), the attributions of the Public Prosecutors’ Office, among which are ordering and directing criminal investigations, as well as “[e]xercise on behalf of the State the criminal action in those cases in which its initiation or continuation does not require any private action by the offended party, except in the exceptions established by law.” 309 The Organic Code of Criminal Procedures of Venezuela (hereinafter “COPP”) states that the State is the executor of criminal actions through the Public Prosecutors’ Office, “which is compelled to exercise it, except for in regard to the legal exceptions.” 310 In Venezuela there are three categories of crimes: pursuable ex officio311, prosecutable prior request of the victim,312 and prosecutable only in a private suit.313 296. The activity that the State could or was compelled to carry out ex officio, with regard to the behaviors denounced within the domestic realm, is governed by the principle of officialdom regarding the crimes of public action.314 Therefore, once the state authorities have been made aware of the facts that constitute crimes of a public action –as could be 309 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, reprinted due to a material error in the Official Gazette No. 5453, extraordinary, of March 24, 2000. 310 Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, approved on January 20, 1998, published in the Official Gazette No. 5208, extraordinary, of January 23, 1998, with the partial reform approved on August 25, 1000, and published in Official Gazette No. 37.022 of that same date, and the partial reform approved on November 12, 2001, and published in Official Gazette No. 5.558, extraordinary, of November 14, 2001, Article 11 (dossier of evidence, volume XXVI, folio 9309). 311 Thus, Venezuelan legislation establishes as a general rule the criminal prosecution ex officio of the punishable acts classified as crimes of public action. The Venezuelan code of criminal procedures states that the ordinary proceedings for crimes of public action may be started ex officio by the Public Prosecutors’ Office, by complaint of any person, or by the criminal accusation of the victim. In this sense, Article 283 of the COPP states that “[t]he Public Prosecutors’ Office, when it becomes aware through any means of the perpetration of a punishable act of public action, will order the diligences tending to investigate and verify its commission, with all the circumstances that may influence in classification and the responsibility of the authors and other participants, and the guarantee of the active and passive objects related to the perpetration.” If the complaint has been presented or the criminal accusation has been received, “the prosecutor from the Public Prosecutors’ Office will order, without delay, the start of the investigation and will order that all diligences necessary to verify the circumstances stated in Article 283 be carried out. With this order the Public Prosecutors’ Office will start the investigation ex officio.” Cf. Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, Articles 24, 283, 285, 292, and 300 (dossier of evidence, volume XXVI, folios 9303 and 9318. 312 This second category of crimes will be processed according to the general rules regarding crimes of public action, even though the party may abandon the action at any state of the process, which will extinguish the corresponding criminal action. Cf. Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, Article 26 (dossier of evidence, vlume XXVI, folio 26). 313 The Criminal Code of Venezuela specifies which crimes are of private action or may be prosecuted only upon request of the party, whose proceedings will be governed by the special proceedings established in the Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, Thus, certain illicit acts that were classified by the State as crimes of a private action, for example the threats, libel and slander, may not be prosecuted if not through an accusation presented by the injured party or their legal representatives. In these cases, the victim’s accusation, through a criminal prosecution, before the competent court is necessary for the trial to be carried out. However, the domestic court could order judicial help from the Public Prosecutors’ Office to carry out a preliminary investigation or if the accusing party requests in its criminal accusation the diligences tending to identify the accused party, determine his domicile or place of residence or to prove the punishable act. Cf. Criminal Code, published in the Official Gazette Nº 5.494, extraordinary, of October 20, 2000, reformed by the Law of Partial Reform of the Criminal Code of March 3, 2005, published in the Official Gazette No. 5.768, extraordinary of April 13, 2005, Articles 175 in fine and 449 and Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, supra note 310, Articles 25, 400, and 402. 314 Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, supra note 310, Articles 24, 25, and 26 (dossier of evidence, volume XXVI, folio 9303 and 9304).