Public Defenders Business Plan 2007-08
PART A
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 Mark Ierace 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. |
| Support Staff | 5 | Full time positions |
| Legal Research Staff | 2 | Part-time job share position |
Services provided 2006-07
| District Court matters | 374 |
| Supreme Court matters | 92 |
| High Court &CCA advices | 271 |
| High Court &CCA appeals | 91 |
| Court of Appeal, Parole Board, NSW Crime Commission | 9 |
| Local and Coroners Court | 69 |
| Children’s Court | 8 |
| Non – court activities (telephone advice, seminars, legal education, meetings etc…) | 573 |
Budget 2007-08
The draft budget allocation for 2007-08 is $6,623,946 net.
Projected revenue is $957,065. The greater part of this revenue is received under our Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with the NSW Legal Aid Commission (Legal Aid NSW) and to a much lesser extent, from the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd (ALS). We are currently negotiating new SLAs with both organisations and these negotiations are an ongoing part of our Business Plan.
The recent reorganisation of the ALS may have a negative impact on the amount of money they are able to provide this financial year.
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. We continue to try to address this through our Brief Tracking and Management project, which remains in abeyance pending funding decisions by the Department.
Nevertheless, some trends can be determined as follows;
· Increasing representation in appellate courts, particularly the High Court consistent with priorities of SLAs
· 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 Legal Aid NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service. 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, including expected increase in demand arising from the Parramatta Justice Precinct
· Managing resources to meet the demand involvement in anti-terrorism matters
· 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
· Maintain focus on Supreme Court, CCA and High Court matters
· Monitor number of Commonwealth matters in accordance with Service Level Agreement with Legal Aid NSW
· Promote services of Public Defenders to Legal Aid NSW and ALS regional offices and specialist sections, including availability to provide advice, guidance and representation at earliest possible opportunity following charging of legally assisted person
· Implement “ Brief Management and Matter Tracking” system (subject to additional funding)
· Investigate the expansion of Public Defenders “Early Intervention Model” to more regional and metropolitan courts where Public Defenders have a presence.
Drivers of Expenditure
· Primarily salary costs which make up 95% of expenditure
· Rent
· Implementing Brief Management and Matter Tracking System
· Meeting the challenges of the Parramatta Justice Precinct
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 (SOORT) 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. The reliance on temporary staff and the disparity that exists between the type of work now expected of support staff and their gradings has resulted in a review of the current support staff positions. Although this may result in an increase in our projected salaries budget, ultimately our service provision will be enhanced and enable Public Defenders to work more productively.
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 “Brief Management and 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. It will also provide a significant benefit to our clients i.e. Legal Aid NSW, the ALS and private practitioners.
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. Public Defenders plans to increase the number of professional seminars it provides, particularly in regional areas and this will not only raise revenue but also hopefully elevate the standard of criminal advocacy in the profession.
Revenue is also provided under Service Level Agreements mentioned above.
Finally, it is worth noting that the effective use of Public Defenders by our clients, such as Legal Aid NSW and the ALS, is regarded as a cost saving by both to these organisations and to the criminal justice system. Every grant of legal aid made by Legal Aid NSW in serious criminal matters requires as a matter of policy that Public Defenders must be briefed if available. Although our current systems do not allow us to easily identify these savings anecdotal evidence suggests that involvement of Public Defenders in lengthy and complex trials, such as the terrorism matters will save the State considerable expenditure.
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PART ‘B’PERFORMANCE TARGETS 2007-08
INITIATIVES
| Result | Initiative | Target Date | Responsibility | Priority
[1 (High) – 3 (Low)] |
| Equitable Access to Services | Renegotiate Service Level Agreements with Legal Aid NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd | August –Sept 07 | Mark Ierace SC | 1 |
| Effective Legal and Professional Services | Investigate the feasibility of expanding Public Defenders “early intervention” model of case management to other regional and metropolitan courts, including the PJP. |  | Mark Ierace SC,
Deputy Senior PDs, Ron Hoenig, Belinda Rigg | 1 |
| Efficient Use of Resources | Continue to work towards implementation of Brief Management and Matter Tracking system | Ongoing | John Stratton SC; Ruth Heazlewood | 1 |
| Effective Legal And Professional Services | Expand internet criminal law advice to practitioners | December 07 | Mark Ierace SC, Deputy SPDs | 2 |
| Safe Workplace | 1. Continue to conduct OH&S inspection of regional offices
2. Implement annual training program on OH&S | 1.Aug – Sept 07
2. Sept 07 | Mark Ierace SC;
Ruth Heazlewood | 2 |
| Efficient Use of Resources | Revise current method of recording service and performance measures | Feb 08 | Ruth Heazlewood | |
| Effective Legal And Professional Services | Expand current continuing legal education program for the profession | June 08 | John Stratton SC , PDs | 2 |
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
| Result | Result Indicator | Responsibility |
| Effective legal and professional services | High satisfaction of stakeholders with legal services | Mark Ierace SC, all PDs |
| Equitable access to services | Provide Public Defender to 80% regional court sittings | Mark Ierace SC, Colin Longhurst |
SERVICE MEASURES
| Service | Service Measure | Responsibility |
| Completed District Court matters | 95 per quarter | Senior Public Defender, Public Defenders, Clerk to Chambers |
| Completed Supreme Court Matters | 25 per quarter | Senior Public Defender, Deputy Senior Public Defenders, Public Defenders, Clerk to Chambers |
| High Court & CCA advices | 65 per quarter | Senior Public Defender, Deputy Senior Public Defenders, Public Defenders |
| High Court & CCA appeals | 22 per quarter | Senior Public Defender, Deputy Senior Public Defenders, Public Defenders |
| Ratio Sydney/ Regional Court matters | 60/40 per quarter | Regional based Public Defenders, Public Defenders |
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