Page 1966 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
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to the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983 of the Commonwealth to remove offences under Territory laws from its coverage will come into effect. Currently prosecutions under Territory laws are carried out by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions under the Commonwealth Act.
This Bill, Mr Speaker, proposes legislation to replace the Commonwealth Act in relation to Territory offences. It generally mirrors the Commonwealth Act which the courts, the legal profession and others involved in the criminal justice system are well familiar with. It also shares its underlying principles with corresponding State Acts. The Director of Public Prosecutions is an independent statutory office responsible for prosecuting criminal offences in the name of the Crown. The director's statutory independence ensures that prosecution decisions are perceived to be and are, in fact, made according to legal considerations and are free from political influence. All Australian jurisdictions, apart from South Australia and Western Australia, have established independent prosecuting authorities.
This Bill establishes the statutory office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, describes the functions of the office, outlines the respective roles of the Attorney-General and the director in the prosecution process, confers necessary powers of discretions on the director and makes ancillary provisions for the administration of the criminal justice system in the Territory.
Although the director has a statutory independence in the carriage of particular prosecutions, the Attorney-General, as first law officer of the Crown, remains ultimately responsible for the administration of justice in the Territory. The Government has the right and duty to set the general policy framework of criminal prosecutions. The Bill therefore provides a mechanism for the Attorney-General and the director to consult with each other and for the Attorney-General to issue formal directions or guidelines to the director. These directions or guidelines will be general in character: they may not specify action to be taken in particular cases. The Bill requires them to be made public by being tabled in this Assembly.
The establishment of the Director of Public Prosecutions will not diminish the Attorney-General's established powers to institute prosecutions, nor will it affect the capacity of other officers of the Crown or even private citizens to prosecute summary offences. The director has a discretion to take over prosecutions started by someone else, apart from the Attorney-General, and either continue them in his or her official name or bring them to an end. This is an important discretion, common to all Director of Public Prosecutions legislation, which ensures that private prosecutions are in the public interest. The director does not have a discretion to take over prosecutions which the Attorney-General has commenced unless the Attorney-General has first asked the director to do so.
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