Crown prosecutors next for scrutiny

Crown prosecutors will be the next target of a Government crackdown on how the justice system is run.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Simon Power revealed last night that he and Attorney-General Chris Finlayson were writing the terms of reference for a review of how the Crown prosecutes criminal cases.

The announcement follows a scathing review by Dame Margaret Bazley, which found 200 or more corrupt defence lawyers were ripping off the taxpayer-funded legal aid system.

Though a time frame for the prosecution review had not been set, defence lawyers said before its announcement that the system was overdue for review.

Senior Auckland defence lawyer Gary Gotlieb said overseas visitors were amazed Crown prosecutions were carried out by private law firms. "If you had a director of public prosecutions, I would guess the budget would drop dramatically ... for the simple reason that they would be on salaries."

Mr Gotlieb, a former Auckland District Law Society president, said prosecutors were not always pragmatic about accepting guilty pleas to lesser charges early in the process.

While he agreed with the need for far better training and supervision of junior defence lawyers, he did not believe lawyers working for legal aid were corrupt.

"Incompetent is a better word."

Tim McBride, a civil rights lawyer and chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, said prosecutors were far better-resourced than defenders.

He was afraid a shake-up of the legal aid system alone could make things more unfair to defendants.

"I'm not about to defend people [lawyers] ripping off the system ... but there are some real issues in terms of an imbalance at the moment, and an unwillingness of really competent senior lawyers to do the [legal aid] work."

Criminal Bar Association president Anthony Rogers argued in the Herald in September that the legal aid review should have covered Crown lawyers, whose fees "had always exceeded those of defence counsel and are regularly updated in contrast to criminal rates".

Criminal defence barristers last week responded to accusations of ripping off the system by saying police and prosecutors played their part by often laying too many charges and delaying cases by dithering over disclosure.

Mr McBride said public prosecutors had "astounding" advantages compared to defence lawyers.

But it was easy to get stuck into defence lawyers because there was a public perception that "we lawyers will defend every indefensible position and we're here to defend ... the rights of paedophiles and child molesters".

Mr McBride said there was a lack of resources for defenders, "and if you're not able to get the really competent, respected experts ... there is the danger that there may be injustices".

HOW LEGAL AID WORKS

* Legal aid is a government-run programme that pays lawyers' fees for people who cannot afford to. It is managed by the Legal Services Agency that was set up in 1991.
* Payment is made directly to an approved legal aid lawyer.
* A person may have to pay back some or all of it and aid can be refused.
* Criminal legal aid is available for people charged with a criminal offence.
* Civil/Family legal aid is available for private disputes and non-criminal problems that may go to court.
* The agency is responsible to the Minister of Justice and advises the minister about the provision of legal services.