PROSECUTION GUIDELINES |
WHOLE DOCUMENT (Current) | WHOLE DOCUMENT (Historical) | AMENDMENTS |
INTRODUCTION
This edition of
the Prosecution Guidelines of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
for
First, the Guidelines are being re-issued as one document, amalgamating the previous Policy and Guidelines into one and reducing substantially the number of Appendices by incorporating much of that material into the Guidelines themselves. It is anticipated that this will make reference to the Guidelines more convenient.
Secondly, for the first time (and consistently with the Office’s leading role in information technology application in the NSW public sector) the Guidelines are being published only electronically, on the ODPP website and intranet. Of course, the document, or parts, may be downloaded and printed as required. This will help to make amending the Guidelines a more convenient, timely and inexpensive process.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986 and associated legislation created for the first time in NSW an independent professional service for the prosecution of serious criminal offences. These Guidelines are issued pursuant to section 13 of the Act. A reference to a prosecutor in the document is a reference to any legal practitioner representing the interests of the Crown or of the Director in criminal and related proceedings pursuant to the Act.
Prosecution Policy and Guidelines were first issued in July 1987 when the Office commenced operations and further editions were published in 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1998. There will always be a need to keep them up to date and in step with legislative and procedural changes affecting the criminal justice process.
These Guidelines are freely and publicly available and should be read in conjunction with the many other instruments that affect the conduct of prosecutions. They serve to guide prosecutors and to inform the community about actions taken in its name.
20th October 2003