Headed by the Prosecutor of the Nation, the Public Ministry oversees investigations surrounding private citizens, public interest and legislative interrogatives.

[1] Following the creation of the Supreme Court of Peru in 1825, an entity similar to the Public Ministry served under the chief national court.

The 1828 Constitution of Peru established a Supreme Court with seven justices and a prosecutor.

[2] By 1930, it was indicated in Article 2 of the Code of Procedure in Criminal Matters that public criminal prosecution was performed by a proseuctor's office that was overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

[3] In the 1979 Constitution of Peru, the Public Ministry of Peru was officially established as an independent body from the Ministry of Justice.