Title: A brief history of the CDPP
Author: Jaala Hinchcliffe
Date: 5/03/2009
Venue: CDPP 25th Anniversary Dinner, Old Parliament House, Canberra
Establishment
The Commonwealth DPP was established 5 March 1984.
The first director (Ian Temby QC) was appointed from that day. He remained the Director until 1988. The Office commenced with Head Office in Canberra. The Melbourne office was officially opened on 6 June 1984, assuming responsibility for the work of Special Prosecutor Robert Redlich.
The Annual Report for 1984 reports that as at 30 June 1984 there were
It had a total staff of 76.
Ian Temby gave a number of speeches during his time as Director explaining the role of the CDPP and the powers and functions of the Director. He explained the reasoning behind the establishment of the CDPP and I have borrowed the following words from him:
“In the late 1970s and early 1980s it became increasingly apparent that the Commonwealth prosecution process was fraught with delay and inefficiencies. Matters came to a head with the widespread debate concerning some of the revelations contained in the first Costigan Report. In particular, in that report the Royal Commissioner outlined what he described as the "lamentable history of non- prosecution" which occurred in the Perth Office of the Deputy Crown Solicitor in relation to a "bottom-of-the-harbour" tax prosecution which came to the attention of the Australian Taxation Office almost a decade earlier and still required prosecution attention. It is also clear that in the federal sphere in recent years crime has become much more complex, and for that reason traditional responses have been rendered inappropriate.
There were very few cases concerning imported drugs, and major revenue frauds, say 15 years ago. Further many saw a need to free the Attorney-General, an elected member of Parliament, from the prosecution process, and ensure that decisions were taken away from the political arena. My own view is that it was a combination of all the factors I have mentioned that lead to the 1983 decision by government that the Office of the DPP should be created.
The Act setting up the Office passed speedily through both Houses of Parliament and was unopposed - an achievement in itself.
In the course of the second reading speech in the Senate the then Attorney-General, Gareth Evans said this about the rationale for creating the Office:
"The Director of Public Prosecutions Bill now represents an important and historic development in the law and practice governing the prosecution of offences against Commonwealth law. The Bill establishes an Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with the main functions of conducting Commonwealth prosecutions and exercising discretions in relation to prosecutions. Similar offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions have existed in the United Kingdom since 1979 and in the State of Victoria since 1982. The experience of recent years, particularly the revelations of unacceptable delay and other deficiencies in the administration of the Commonwealth criminal law contained in the reports of Royal Commissions conducted by Mr F.X. Costigan Q.C., and Mr Justice Stewart, has made clear the need to revitalise and reorganise Commonwealth prosecution processes."
First Annual Report
The first Annual Report of the CDPP gives an insight into the character of the Office which was being established. It includes the following statements of principle:
The values expressed in those extracts from the first annual report are readily evident in the operation of the Office, 25 years on.
Opening of other offices
The CDPP grew quickly, with offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra opening by the end of 1984. An office in Perth and a sub-office in Townsville had opened by the end of 1985. During this time prosecutions in Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin continued to be conducted by the Director of Legal Services on behalf of the CDPP.
There were some delays in opening offices in Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin. Eventually the Adelaide office opened in 1989, Hobart office in 1998 and Darwin office in 1999. In 1999 full time staff were appointed to the Cairns sub office, which had previously been staffed by visiting staff from other offices.
The Annual Reports describe the growing sense of completeness as each of the regional offices was opened, along with the challenges of becoming a national organisation, such as under staffing, accommodation difficulties and recruiting and retaining staff of appropriate experience.
Directors
The Office has been particularly well served by the Directors that have headed the Office. As I have already mentioned, Ian Temby QC was the founding Director and served in that position from 1984 until 1988. A significant amount of work was done during Ian Temby’s time as Director to establish policies in relation to the exercise of the Director’s powers and in 1986 the first edition of the current Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth was tabled in Parliament.
Mark Weinberg QC served as Director from 1988 until 1991. During his tenure the Adelaide office opened, the Australian Securities Commission was established (leading to additional referrals of complex corporations prosecutions to the Office) and new areas of Commonwealth criminal law were established with the enactment of the War Crimes Amendment Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987.
Michael Rozenes QC served as Director from 1992 until 1997. There were further increases in Corporations matters being referred to the office in this time and specialised tax and social security units were established in various regional offices to directly liaise with investigators.
Brian Martin QC served as Director from 1997 until 1999 when his tenure was cut short by his appointment as Judge to the Supreme Court of SA. While Director, the Hobart office opened and the CDPP’s Statement on Prosecution Disclosure was released, setting out the Office’s policy on disclosure in prosecutions conducted by the CDPP.
Damian Bugg QC served as Director from 1999 until 2007. Over that period, there was a further expansion of Commonwealth criminal law, including the new Corporations Act, the new tax system and the GST, the Criminal Code (and the corresponding application of the general principles in Chapter 2 of the Code to all Commonwealth offences), new offences in relation to people trafficking, child exploitation and counter terrorism.
The current Director, Chris Craigie SC, was appointed in 2007. He noted in the 2008 Annual Report the changes facing the CDPP in prosecuting crimes which involve victims, with reference to the recent slavery case of Tang:
“The matter of Tang highlights the changing face of Commonwealth prosecuting. One aspect of this change is that increasingly, the CDPP is prosecuting matters that involve individual victims of crime. Areas of prosecution such as people trafficking, slavery and child sex tourism present new challenges to the CDPP including addressing the needs of victims as they participate as persons vital to an effective and responsive criminal justice system. The CDPP is continuing to focus on these new areas and is gaining experience in effectively prosecuting these matters.”
Some of the experiences of the office
On the celebration of our 25th anniversary, there are some experiences of the CDPP that are worth noting, as they highlight our history and the character of the office.
The Office has had to deal with the challenge of being a national office with regional offices in each capital city. One practical aspect of that experience is the amount of travel required between offices. As Mark Weinberg expressed in the 1989 Annual Report:
“The downside has been the enormous amount of travelling required. As the Director of a national organisation with a number of regional offices, it is imperative that I visit each of them from time to time. Commuting interstate on a regular basis, at a time when airline schedules are often disrupted for one reason or another, is scarcely conducive to maintaining low stress levels. It is also highly disruptive to one’s own family life”
As I have already mentioned, Commonwealth criminal law has expanded rapidly over the last 25 years, including the implementation of Corporations offences, war crimes provisions, the Criminal Code, Proceeds of Crime legislation, changes to tax law (including the GST) and counter terrorism offences.
Over this time, the Office has met the challenge of prosecuting new and often complex criminal offences and building expertise in these areas.
As Commonwealth criminal law has expanded, so has the number of investigative agencies referring briefs to the CDPP. The CDPP’s relationship with investigative agencies is reflected in the following words from Brian Martin:
“The independence and impartiality of the DPP is an important feature of our work with other agencies involved in the law enforcement process. The DPP’s role with those agencies in providing advice during investigations and assisting with the training of investigators continues to develop.
The DPP has put substantial effort not only into building good relations with the Commonwealth’s investigative agencies but with giving them support and assistance to perform their work.”
The CDPP has also engaged emerging technology to assist in the prosecution process. As Michael Rozenes said in the 1994 Annual Report:
“Another significant development over the last 12 months will streamline criminal trials and especially complex fraud trials. The DPP, in conjunction with the Australian Securities Commission and other Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, has developed computer technology for document imaging, document/exhibit handling and court presentation.
This new technology has now been used in a number of cases and has demonstrated that court time can be dramatically cut and the seemingly incomprehensible made understandable. Although still in its early developmental stages it has won the support of judges and legal practitioners in all jurisdictions and represents an exciting and important breakthrough in trial preparation.”
Conclusion
The proper role of a prosecution service is not to win at all costs, but to prosecute fairly, effectively and without favour. To borrow the words of Damian Bugg from the 2001 Annual Report:
“No prosecuting agency can expect to secure a conviction in every case. It is not our role to judge guilt or innocence, but to present the evidence to the court so that the trier of fact can decide whether the defendant is guilty as charged. If we only ran the cases where we were certain to secure a conviction, we would not be performing our proper role in the criminal process.
What we can do is prosecute fairly, effectively and without favour and we can endeavour to draw lessons from every case, including those where things do not go as planned. An organisation can only become stronger if it is prepared to learn from experience.”
Indeed, prosecuting fairly, effectively and without favour sums up the work of the CDPP for the last 25 years.
As can be seen, a substantial amount has been achieved by the DPP in its first 25 years. I, for one, wish the Office the very best for the next 25.
See also:
25 Years of Commitment (C. Craigie)
25th Anniversary Media Release