DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA A N N U A L R E P O R T 2003-2004 OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS NORTHERN TERRITORY FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT FOR YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2004 Printed by the Government Printer of the Northern Territory 2 Director of Public Prosecutions Northern Territory Rex Wild QC 43 Mitchell St Darwin NT 0800 Telephone (08) 8999 7533 30 September 2004 Facsimile (08) 8999 7821 GPO Box 3321 Darwin NT 0801 Australia The Hon Peter Toyne MLA Attorney-General Parliament House State Square DARWIN NT 0800 Dear Attorney-General ANNUAL REPORT 2003-2004 In accordance with the requirements of section 33 of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, I submit to you the Annual Report on the performance of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. This is the fourteenth Annual Report of the Office since its establishment in January 1991 and the ninth since my appointment in February 1996. This year’s Report does not include the various statements of guidelines issued and published pursuant to section 25 of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act. They had been published in each previous Annual Report following the date of their respective issue and implementation. New or amended guidelines will continue to be published in the Annual Report, but existing guidelines will be available on the ODPP website (www.nt.gov.au/justice/dpp) or on request. It is hoped that the information contained within the Report and on the website in respect of the Office will advance public knowledge of its operations and its role in the criminal justice system. 3 The various guidelines provide Crown prosecutors and others engaged in law enforcement with clear guidelines for the making of various decisions which arise in respect of prosecutions. They are intended also to inform the public generally of the considerations upon which those decisions are made. Yours sincerely REX WILD 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No OFFICE LOCATIONS 7 MISSION STATEMENT(S) 8-9 DIRECTOR’S OVERVIEW 11 ORGANISATION CHART 16 FUNCTIONS OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS 17 BUSINESS PLAN AND PERFORMANCE 19 PROFESSIONAL STAFF 29 PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES 33 • General workload 33 • Results 34 • Management 34 • Case summaries 35 • Appeals 35 • ODPP website 40 • Legislative review 41 • Continuing legal education 41 • Community Involvement 42 • Conference of Australian Directors 42 • Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference 43 • International Association of Prosecutors 44 • Criminal Lawyers’ Association of the Northern Territory 45 • Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors 46 SUMMARY PROSECUTIONS 47 WITNESS ASSISTANCE SERVICE 59 ABORIGINAL SUPPORT 67 5 6 OFFICE LOCATIONS 1. DIRECTOR'S CHAMBERS (Head Office) Level 2 Tourism House 43 Mitchell Street DARWIN NT 0800 GPO Box 3321 Telephone: (08) 8999 7315 DARWIN NT 0801 Fax: (08) 8999 7544 2. NORTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE DARWIN Level 1 Tourism House 43 Mitchell Street DARWIN NT 0800 Telephone: (08) 8999 7533 GPO Box 3321 Fax: (08) 8999 7821 DARWIN NT 0801 Free Call: 1800 659 449 3. SOUTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE ALICE SPRINGS 1st Floor Centrepoint Building Cnr Hartley St & Gregory Tce ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 PO Box 2185 Telephone: (08) 8951 5800 ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871 Fax: (08) 8951 5812 7 MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is to provide the people of the Northern Territory of Australia with an independent, professional and effective criminal prosecution service that: • operates with integrity • is fair and just to both victims and the accused and • is sensitive to the needs of victims, witnesses and to the interests of the community on whose behalf it acts. 8 MISSION STATEMENT (IN KRIOL) Wed bla DPP-mob DPP-mob bin pudimdan dijlat wed la dijan peipa dumaji olabat wandi dalim eberibodi bla no, hau detmob wandi duwim det wek bla olabat brabli raitwei. Det wek bla olabat, jei gada album yu bla dijkain trabul: maiti ib pilijimen im rekin samwan bin meigim brabli nogudwan trabul, laiga ib jei merdrem o kilimbat yu; ib jei stilimbat o demijim enijing blanganta yu. Maiti det pilijimen rekin det ting im lilbit nogudwan, wal olabat pilijimenmob teigim la kot. O maiti det pilijimen rekin det trabul im rili rongwei, wal det DPP- mob gada teigim la kot det nogudwan sambodi. Det DPP-mob olabat teigim yu pleis la kot, seimwei laig det Liguleid teigim pleis la det sabodi weya olabat rekin imin duwim rongwan ting. Det DPP-mob gan weistimbat taim en mani en olabat gan libim dijan hiya rul bla olabat wek: • Ola weka onli gada woriyabat faindimbat raitwan wed bla wot bin hepin - nomo laigim yu o heitim yu o yu femli o enibodi. Jei gan toktok la enibodi bla yu bijnij, onli la jeya weka wen jei albumbat yu. • Det DPP-mob wandim stap gudwan binji seimwei la yu en la det sambodi weya olabat rekin imin duwim det nogudwan ting. Jei wandi album yu gidim det samwan hu bin duwim det samting rong en faindat la kot raitwei bla banijim bla wot imin du. • Olabat DPP-mob wandi meigim bla yu en en det sambodi en ola widnijmob go la kot gudwei, nomo hambag en nomo bla meigim yu fil sheim. DPP-mob duwim dijkain wek bla album eberibodi la Northern Territory jidan seifwan en gudbinjigeja. DPP-mob bin pudim dan dislat wed la dijan peipa dumaji olabat wandim dalim eberibodi bla no, hau detmob wandi duwim det wek bla olabat brabli raitwei. 9 10 DIRECTOR’S OVERVIEW Introduction The core business of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) is prosecuting. I believe it does that job in the Northern Territory very well. The ODPP has a very professional staff, well-qualified and appropriately experienced to carry out its function. From time-to-time the Office leadership can be distracted from the key role by the concerns raised by budgetary restraints and other administrative routines. There is little doubt that the inclusion of the Office within the Department of Justice has meant more, rather than less, bureaucracy. However, with a sympathetic ear from the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Justice, Richard Coates, and many of his staff, and the diplomacy and management skills of our Business Manager, Lilia Garard, this Office has been able to maintain a certain level of administrative and financial independence such that its essential business has not suffered. Resource Issues In the main, the ODPP has been well looked after. However, there are outstanding areas of need for further financial provision. The Witness Assistance Service (WAS), particularly in the bush springs to mind. The need for a permanent professional presence in Katherine and a dedicated team for forfeiture matters are also matters for which resources will be pursued in 2004-2005. I referred earlier to essential business. The Office has had to reduce its involvement in quasi-criminal matters. I found it necessary to write to Mr Coates on 16 April 2004 in the following terms: I have in the past taken the view that it is desirable that all prosecuting work in the Northern Territory be, as far as possible, conducted by the same organisation. Obviously enough, that should be the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. With this in mind, some time ago I took on the responsibility of providing advice and conducting prosecutions for various matters referred to me by agencies other than the police. 11 I find that it is quite impossible to continue to take on this additional work. It is often complicated (in fact, almost always so) and does not have the advantage of having been the subject of a police investigation. There is almost always a great deal of follow-up investigative work to be done and my prosecutors must take charge of that to some extent and direct those investigations. In short, I can no longer accept instructions of this kind. It is conceded that the Bradley Murdoch prosecution has created significant financial pressures, and the Government has met those without complaint. Similarly, the re-accommodation of the ODPP in Darwin is now planned to occur by the middle of 2005 and this will be in what is expected to be excellent offices in the Old Admiralty House building. The Office will maintain its geographical independence from other areas of the Department which, it is suggested, is important. As the section of this report on WAS notes, the pattern for clients and victim impact statement numbers over the years has been to show a gradual increase. However, it will be unrealistic to expect any further growth, irrespective of witness and victim needs, because all WAS officers are working to (and beyond, much of the time, I suspect) capacity. Any expansion of the service can only be with an associated increase in resources. One highlight of the financial year, as it were, was the granting of funds to enable WAS to produce a training DVD/video to enable it to assist people in remote communities to understand the justice process. The DVD/video was to be produced by Burrundi Pictures and was expected to be ready by September 2004. Legislative Changes During the year, the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Act was enacted and came into operation. The effect of the Act is to provide for standard minimum non-parole periods for the offence of murder. The transitional provisions have meant that prisoners sentenced in the early eighties, and therefore due for parole consideration shortly, have been the subject of review by me. Section 19 of the Act casts this responsibility on the Director.