Cite as: 509 U. S. 259 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
part). Under that analysis, appearing before a judge and presenting evidence in support of a motion for a search warrant involved the prosecutor's " 'role as advocate for the State.' " Id., at 491, quoting Imbler, 424 U. S., at 431, n. 33. Because issuance of a search warrant is a judicial act, appearance at the probable-cause hearing was " 'intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process,' " Burns, 500 U. S., at 492, quoting Imbler, 424 U. S., at 430.
We further decided, however, that prosecutors are not entitled to absolute immunity for their actions in giving legal advice to the police. We were unable to identify any historical or common-law support for absolute immunity in the performance of this function. 500 U. S., at 492-493. We also noted that any threat to the judicial process from "the harassment and intimidation associated with litigation" based on advice to the police was insufficient to overcome the "[a]bsen[ce] [of] a tradition of immunity comparable to the common-law immunity from malicious prosecution, which formed the basis for the decision in Imbler." Id., at 493, 494. And though we noted that several checks other than civil litigation prevent prosecutorial abuses in advising the police, "one of the most important checks, the judicial process," will not be effective in all cases, especially when in the end the suspect is not prosecuted. Id., at 496. In sum, we held that providing legal advice to the police was not a function "closely associated with the judicial process." Id., at 495.
IV
In this case the Court of Appeals held that respondents are entitled to absolute immunity because the injuries suffered by petitioner occurred during criminal proceedings. That holding is contrary to the approach we have consistently followed since Imbler. As we have noted, the Imbler approach focuses on the conduct for which immunity is claimed, not on the harm that the conduct may have caused or the question whether it was lawful. The location of the
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