Sections/Offices
Appellate Section (APP)
The Appellate Section prepares draft briefs and certiorari petitions for the Solicitor General for filing in the U.S. Supreme Court; makes recommendations to the Solicitor General as to whether further review is warranted on adverse decisions in the district courts and courts of appeals; and prepares briefs and argues cases in the courts of appeals. The section also prepares and argues motions in significant district court cases.
Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS)
The Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section provides centralized management for the Department's asset forfeiture program to ensure its integrity and maximize its law enforcement potential, while also providing managerial direction to the Department's components in prosecuting money laundering. The Section initiates, coordinates, and reviews legislative and policy proposals impacting on the asset forfeiture program and money laundering enforcement agencies.
Office of the Assistant Attorney General
The Office of the Assistant Attorney General oversees the development, enforcement, and supervision of the application of all federal criminal laws except those specifically assigned to other divisions. The Division and the 93 U.S. Attorneys oversee criminal matters under more than 900 statutes as well as certain civil litigation. The OAAG formulates and implements criminal enforcement policy and provides advice and assistance. For example, the OAAG advises the Attorney General, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget and the White House on matters of criminal law; provides legal advice and assistance to federal prosecutors and investigative agencies; and provides leadership for coordinating international as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement matters.
Capital Case Section (CCS)
The Capital Case Section (CCS) within the Criminal Division was recently created in response to the Department's increased involvement in capital litigation and charged with overseeing the Department's capital prosecutions.
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS)
This section is part of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. In connection with the 93 United States Attorney Offices around the country, CEOS prosecutes violations of federal law related to producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing child pornography, transporting women or children interstate for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual activity, traveling interstate or internationally to sexually abuse children, and international parental kidnapping. This section has jurisdiction to prosecute cases of child abuse on federal and Indian lands as well. CEOS also actively enforces federal laws against transporting obscene materials in interstate or foreign commerce
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS)
The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) is responsible for implementing the Department's national strategies in combating computer and intellectual property crimes worldwide. The Computer Crime Initiative is a comprehensive program designed to combat electronic penetrations, data thefts, and cyberattacks on critical information systems. CCIPS prevents, investigates, and prosecutes computer crimes by working with other government agencies, the private sector, academic institutions, and foreign counterparts. Section attorneys work to improve the domestic and international infrastructure-legal, technological, and operational-to pursue network criminals most effectively. The Section's enforcement responsibilities against intellectual property crimes are similarly multi-faceted.
Fraud Section
The Fraud Section plays a unique and essential role in the Department's fight against sophisticated economic crime. The Section investigates and prosecutes complex white collar crime cases throughout the country. The Section is uniquely qualified to act in that capacity, based on its vast experience with sophisticated fraud schemes; its expertise in managing complex and multi-district litigation; and its ability to deploy resources effectively to address law enforcement priorities and respond to geographically shifting crime problems. These capabilities are an essential complement to the efforts of the United States Attorneys' Offices to combat white-collar crime. The Fraud Section also plays a critical role in the development of Department policy.
Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP)
The Department of Justice created the Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section (HRSP) in March 2010 by combining two successful Criminal Division units, the Domestic Security Section (DSS) and the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), to enhance federal law enforcement efforts in the areas of human rights, international violent crime, and complex immigration crimes. The merger reflects the Department's deep commitment to prosecuting human rights violations and war crimes, both as a domestic law enforcement imperative and as a contribution to the global effort directed at ending impunity for war criminals and human rights violators.
International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP)
ICITAP works with foreign governments to develop professional and transparent law enforcement institutions that protect human rights, combat corruption, and reduce the threat of transnational crime and terrorism. ICITAP supports both national security and foreign policy objectives.
Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS)
Our mission is to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the United States by investigating and prosecuting priority national and international drug trafficking groups and by providing sound legal, strategic and policy guidance in support of that end.
Office of Administration
The Office of Administration provides the highest-quality service to all members of the Division in pursuit of our organizational goals to develop, enforce, and supervise the application of all federal criminal laws.
Office of Enforcement Operations (OEO)
OEO provides investigative and prosecutorial support, legal advice, and statutorily required review and approval in almost 40 distinct subject areas. OEO oversees the use of the most sophisticated investigative tools at the federal government’s disposal, including electronic surveillance, the Federal Witness Security Program, media subpoenas, and witness immunity requests.
Office of International Affairs (OIA)
The Office of International Affairs provides advice and assistance on international criminal matters to the Attorney General and other senior Department of Justice officials, the Criminal Division and the Department's other legal divisions, the U.S. Attorneys offices, and state and local prosecutors. OIA coordinates the extradition or other legal rendition of international fugitives and all international evidence gathering.
Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT)
OPDAT's mission is to develop and administer technical assistance designed to enhance the capabilities of foreign justice sector institutions and their law enforcement personnel, so they can effectively partner with the Department of Justice in combating terrorism, trafficking in persons, organized crime, corruption, and financial crimes.
Office of Policy and Legislation (OPL)
The Mission and Work of the Office of Policy and Legislation. We are a team of attorneys, policy analysts, and professional staff working with all the sections and offices of the Criminal Division and components around the Department to develop, review, and evaluate national crime, sentencing, and corrections policy and legislation. The office's legislative component develops legislative proposals, legal memoranda, and Congressional testimony. We prepare comments on pending legislation and other legislative matters affecting the federal criminal justice system; and help represent the Department before the U.S. Sentencing Commission on sentencing-related issues, and before the Judicial Conference's Advisory Committees on Criminal Rules and Evidence regarding the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS)
Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) is a specialized group of prosecutors charged with developing and implementing strategies to disrupt and dismantle the most significant regional, national and international gangs and organized crime groups.
Public Integrity Section
The Public Integrity Section oversees the federal effort to combat corruption through the prosecution of elected and appointed public officials at all levels of government. The Section has exclusive jurisdiction over allegations of criminal misconduct on the part of federal judges and also monitors the investigation and prosecution of election and conflict of interest crimes. Section attorneys prosecute selected cases against federal, state, and local officials, and are available as a source of advice and expertise to other prosecutors and investigators.