INTRODUCTION
Public Defenders are barristers appointed as statutory officers under The Public Defenders Act 1995. Public Defenders represent legally assisted people in serious criminal matters. Although funded primarily by the Attorney General’s Department, each Public Defender is required to act independently in the conduct of any proceedings subject only to the provisions of the Bar Rules and in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
ROLE
Our role is to provide high quality advocacy and advice for those members of the community charged with a serious criminal offence and who have been granted legal assistance as defined by the Public Defenders Act 1995.
STAKEHOLDERS
Our stakeholders are;
· The NSW Legal Aid Commission (LAC)
· Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS)
· Community Legal Centres (CLCs)
· Private practitioners who brief Public Defenders
SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES
We provide representation for:
· Trials
· Sentence matters
· Appeals to the Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeal, High Court and less frequently, in the District Court
· Committal proceedings in the local and children’s courts
· Matters before the Parole Board and proceedings in the Common Law Division of the Supreme Court
· Coronial inquiries (in certain circumstances).
We also provide;
· written and telephone advice to the profession
· community legal education
· seminars and conferences for the criminal law practitioners
· submissions on law reform and participation in various law reform committees
· work experience for high school and university students
KEY BUSINESS DIMENSIONS
Location
Public Defenders chambers are situated at:
Carl Shannon Chambers, 13/175 Liverpool Street, Sydney.
We also have Public Defenders based in regional areas at:
· Dubbo
· Lismore
· Newcastle
· Wollongong
Staff
The head of chambers and Business Centre Manager is Peter Zahra SC, Senior Public Defender.
Senior Public Defender
Deputy Senior Public Defenders
Public Defenders | 1
3
21 | Three part-time positions.
Three positions filled by Acting Public Defenders (one offset against part-time positions). |
| Support Staff | 5 | Full time positions |
| Legal Research Staff | 2 | Part-time job share position |
Services provided 2005- 06
| District Court matters | 373 |
| Supreme Court matters | 77 |
| High Court &CCA advices | 240 |
| High Court &CCA appeals | 89 |
| Local and Coroners Court | 48 |
| Children’s Court | 11 |
| Non – court activities (telephone advice, seminars etc…) | 336 |
Budget 2006-07
The draft budget allocation for 2006-07 is $6,363,906.
Projected revenue is $945,556, however there may be a reduction in this amount due to the reorganisation of Aboriginal Legal Services, which has provided part of this revenue under earlier Service Level Agreements. Public Defenders also enter into annual Service Level Agreements with the NSW Legal Aid Commission. Renegotiation of these agreements is included as part of this Business Plan.
Public Defenders also raise revenue by conducting continuing professional development courses in Sydney and regional areas.
Trends
Any detailed analysis of trends in demand and service provision over the last five years is difficult as the current systems of recording data lack precision and are often incomplete. One of the priorities of this and last year’s Plan is to address this issue. We also faced serious staff shortages in 2005/06 due to serious illness and two Public Defenders and one staff member taking long service leave.
Nevertheless, some trends can be determined as follows;
· An overall increase in annual productivity over the last five years
· Increasing representation in appellate courts, particularly the High Court
· Significant increase in representation in local and children’s court particularly in last two years.
· Increasing involvement in coronial enquiries
External factors having an impact on our work are;
· Greater complexity in evidence including electronic evidence and DNA evidence
· Longer trials, particularly in the Supreme Court (one of our Service Level Agreement priority areas)
· More complex sentencing legislation
· Current District Court listing practises
· Anti-terrorism laws
Our clients are “legally assisted people” as defined by our Act and as determined by the policies of the NSW Legal Aid Commission and the Aboriginal Legal Services. The priority areas for our services are decided in consultation with these bodies and contained in annually reviewed Service Level Agreements. As Public Defenders are a scarce resource, our aim is to ensure that we provide representation in matters where we are most cost-effective, such as long and/or complex matters.
It is not considered appropriate or meaningful to survey our clients (legally assisted persons) on quality of service issues, many of who may be convicted of very serious offences and sentenced to long periods of imprisonment. We do however conduct quality surveys with our stakeholders when resources permit.
CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES
Challenges
· Meeting demand for service within the existing number of Public Defenders
· Managing the demand for involvement in anti-terrorism matters
· Meeting the needs of LAC, ALS for case conferencing
· Maintaining an appropriate balance between regional and Sydney courts
· Upgrading our brief management and information systems
· Managing the level of stress inherent in the nature of Public Defenders’ duties
· Managing the late delivery and poor quality of briefs provide by certain private practitioners
· Working with minimal support staff
· Remaining within budget
Strategies for Delivering Services
· Maintain existing focus on maximising the use of Public Defenders in more serious, complex or lengthy trials
· Establish training for Public Defenders on anti-terrorism matters
· Maintain focus on Supreme Court, CCA and High Court matters
· Monitor number of Commonwealth matters in accordance with Service Level Agreement with NSW Legal Aid Commission
· Promote services of Public Defenders to LAC and ALS regional offices and specialist sections, including availability to provide advice, guidance and representation at earliest possible moment following charging of legally assisted person
· Implement “ Matter Tracking” system (subject to Capex approval)
· Develop policy for coronial inquiries
· Develop policy/procedure for Case Conferencing
Drivers of Expenditure
· Primarily salary costs which make up 95% of expenditure
· Rent
· Implementing Matter Tracking System
Strategies to contain/ reduce expenditure
Most of the Public Defenders budget is allocated to salaries. Public Defenders salaries are fixed by the Statutory and Other Officers Remuneration Tribunal and are reviewed annually. There are 5 support staff and two part-time legal research officers.
There is no plan to reduce staff as we operate with minimal support already and rely heavily on temporary assistance when support staff take leave. Our only method of containing salary expenditure is not to replace Public Defenders when taking long service leave or to delay filling positions when they become vacant.
Implementation of the “Matter Tracking” system will achieve significant savings over five years by reducing duplication and time currently spent on managing the acceptance and refusal of requests for Public Defenders and the provision and analysis of data.
A considerable amount of work is devoted to raising revenue through our annual criminal law conference which has returned a profit in the last two years. We also raise revenue through occasional continuing professional education seminars.
Revenue is also provided under Service Level Agreements mentioned above.
PERFORMANCE TARGETS
INITIATIVES
[Provide a list of relevant results, from the Results and Services Plan (RSP), and a short list of new initiatives for the year. Only high-level initiatives should be provided. These are initiatives that will deliver significant benefits and/or greater efficiencies from new or improved policies, business processes, service delivery channels or better systems.
Note: Initiatives must be specific and should be achievable for the 2006/07 financial year.]
| Result | Initiative | Target Date | Responsibility | Priority
[1 (High) – 3 (Low)] |
| Equitable Access to Services | Renegotiate Service Level Agreement with newly formed Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd | August 06 | John Stratton SC; Ruth Heazlewood | 1 |
| Effective Legal and Professional Services | Provide program of in-house training on anti-terrorism laws | November 06 & ongoing | Peter Zahra SC, PDs | 2 |
| Efficient Use of Resources | Continue to work towards implementation of Matter Tracking system | Ongoing | John Stratton SC; Ruth Heazlewood | 1 |
| Effective Legal And Professional Services | Revise Service Level Agreement with NSW LAC to reflect current needs for service | August 06 | Peter Zahra SC; Chris Craigie SC | 1 |
| Safe Workplace | Conduct OH&S inspection of regional offices | Ongoing | Peter Zahra SC;
Ruth Heazlewood | 2 |
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
[Provide a list of results from the RSP, and specific Result Indicators from the RSP and any additional relevant indicators. Particularly consider efficiency and productivity measures.]
| Result | Result Indicator | Responsibility |
| Effective legal and professional services | 95% satisfaction of stakeholders with legal services |  |
| Equitable access to services | Provide Public Defender to 80% regional courts | |
SERVICE MEASURES
[List Services and service measures: quality, timeliness and accessibility of service delivery.]
| Service | Service Measure | Responsibility |
| Completed District Court matters | 110 per quarter | Senior Public Defender, Public Defenders, Clerk to Chambers |
| Completed Supreme Court Matters | 20 per quarter | Senior Public Defenders, Deputy Senior Public Defenders, Public Defenders, Clerk to Chambers |
| High Court & CCA advices | 60 per quarter | Deputy Senior Public Defenders, Public Defenders |
| High Court & CCA appeals | 22 per quarter | Deputy Senior Public Defenders, Public Defenders |
| Ratio Sydney/ Regional Court matters | 60/40 per quarter | Regional based Public Defenders, Public Defenders |
