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Roles and Duties of the Prosecutor |
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| 1.1 |
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is independent and represents the community and not any private or sectional interest. |
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| 1.2 |
The prosecutor owes a duty of fairness to the court and the community. The community’s interest is two-fold: that those who are guilty be brought to justice and that those who are innocent not be wrongly convicted. The prosecutor’s role is to assist the court and do justice between the community and the offender according to law and the dictates of fairness. Importantly, a prosecutor:
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(1) |
has the duty to act fairly and impartially; |
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(2) |
has the duty of ensuring that the Crown case is presented properly and with fairness to the offender; |
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(3) |
is entitled to firmly and vigorously urge the Crown view about a particular issue and to test the case advanced on behalf of the offender by all proper means provided by the criminal trial process which is an accusatorial and adversarial procedure; |
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(4) |
must never seek to persuade a jury to a point of view by introducing prejudice; |
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(5) |
must not advance any argument that does not carry weight in his or her own mind or try to shut out any evidence that would be important to the interests of the offender; |
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(6) |
must inform the court of authorities or trial directions appropriate to the case, even where unfavourable to the prosecution; |
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(7) |
must offer all evidence relevant to the Crown case; |
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(8) |
should take care to ensure that nothing is said in the opening address which may subsequently lead to the discharge of the jury. Such matters might include: |
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(a) |
contentious evidence that has not yet been the subject of a ruling; |
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(b) |
evidence that may reasonably be expected to be the subject of objection; |
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(c) |
detailed aspects of a witness’s evidence which may not be recalled in the witness box; |
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(9) |
has a continuing obligation of disclosure; |
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(10) |
must take care to conduct cross-examination of an offender fairly; |
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(11) |
shall comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct and Practice of the Law Society of the Northern Territory (Appendix B), the Barristers’ Conduct Rules of the Bar Association of the Northern Territory (Appendix C) and the International Association of Prosecutors Rules for Prosecutors (Appendix D). |
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| 1.3 |
The prosecution is entitled to procedural fairness. It must maintain that right in the interests of justice. This may mean, for example, that an adjournment must be sought when insufficient notice is given of: alibi evidence, evidence regarding Aboriginal customary law on sentence, a plea and a victim impact statement or report may be required, or, any other listing where insufficient time has been provided to the Crown to properly prepare and fairly present material relevant to the matter before the court. |
