KEY POINTS:
Solicitor-General David Collins yesterday expressed concern over the length of criminal trials.
"I think there is a real risk that the quality of justice can be undermined through inordinate delay," he told the justice and electoral select committee.
Mr Collins said there could be extra pressure in the area of criminal prosecutions as a result of efforts to reduce court waiting times.
He had made submissions to the Ministry of Justice on reducing the delays, but it was a matter of policy for the Government to consider.
It was partly because the length of time trials were taking had increased "many-fold" in the 30-odd years he had worked as a lawyer.
Detection of crimes had increased, multiple defendants were often involved in drugs and fraud cases, and there were higher requirements for disclosure.
He said civil cases were also long and complex which meant the general trend was for litigation to be complex, more lengthy and more expensive.
Mr Collins was briefing the select committee about the Crown Law Office financial review and the factors the office took into account when setting its budget.
He said it ran a "very tight budget - we are not allowed to make a profit, we are not allowed to make a loss".
Its revenue came mostly from recovering its costs from government departments which used it as the government's lawyers, rather than an appropriation from Parliament.
However, it could be difficult to predict what its costs would be to fund the prosecution of crimes.
He said big cases such as David Bain or John Barlow, due in the Privy Council next week, were expensive and "upset our tight budgeting arrangements".
Pressure on the Office of Treaty Settlements as momentum built with Treaty claims also had a "knock-on effect" to Crown Law and the office had to ensure it was well enough resourced to deal with any influx as the Government worked on its deadline of finishing all settlements by 2014.
Mr Collins also said the number of tax and commercial cases had already grown significantly over the past 12 months, and he was expecting it to go higher as a result of the economic downturn.
FEW PERKS AT CROWN LAW
Government departments searching for cost savings need look no further than the high-flying lawyers of the Crown Law Office for a model of frugality.
For its 184 staff - about half of whom are lawyers - there are only 35 work cellphones and 15 of those are pool phones. None has a Blackberry.
The information was revealed in answers to written questions from MPs on the justice and electoral select committee about the office's expenses and financial return for 2007/08.
The annual cellphone bill was about $12,000 - an average of $343 a year per phone - or just $28.60 a month. The office also has a strict Koru Club policy - only those travelling more than 12 times a year were allowed to "make a business case" for one and even then it wasn't assured.
It was more generous when it came to salaries - 67 earned more than $100,000 and 21 were on salaries topping $160,000. Ninety-eight staff had work credit cards - although most had limits of $5000 or less.
The office had just one part-time communications or media staff member, costing the grand sum of $46,000.
