DPP `overworked and underpaid'
17.05.2008
PROSECUTORS in Queensland are working almost three times as hard as their interstate colleagues on cases, provided with only a third of the funds of the national average.
And the body set up to defend criminals is paid three times as much as the office trying to put them away.
An internal review of Queensland's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has found it is so under-funded, under-resourced and inexperienced that senior staff fear miscarriages of justice could occur.
State Liberal leader Mark McArdle yesterday released a confidential review of the office of the DPP that was endorsed by its outgoing head, Leanne Clare, who has been appointed a judge of the District Court.
The office of the DPP has in recent years been criticised for its conduct in the cases of policeman Chris Hurley, who was acquitted of the manslaughter of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island, and of former chief magistrate Di Fingleton, One Nation founder Pauline Hanson and Olympic swimming coach Scott Volkers.
The review, ordered earlier this year by Attorney-General Kerry Shine, recommends that 49 prosecutors be immediately appointed and an additional $5.9 million be provided for each of the next three years to overcome the backlog of cases.
It says the office cannot attract prosecutors because the pay is so low and the workload so heavy.
The failure to keep senior prosecutors has left young lawyers without mentors.
Inexperienced legal officers are being appointed to positions because nobody else is applying -- with the result that the most competent job is not being done in some cases.
``The directorate is concerned that the recent premature appointments of inexperienced lawyers is eroding the professional base of the practice and heightening the risk for miscarriage of justice issues,'' the report says.
``It is compromising the practice's ability to deliver the best possible prosecution service to the community of Queensland.''
The report cites the case of ``an experienced and skilled prosecutor'' from the Sydney office of the commonwealth DPP who took a drop in pay to work on the Sunshine Coast, but was head-hunted back to the commonwealth DPP on twice the salary he was being paid in Queensland.
``The Queensland ODPP has only 67 prosecutors,'' it says. ``On average a Queensland prosecutor must deal with 79 matters each per year as opposed to the national average of only 27.
``The Queensland ODPP receives funding that equates to approximately $5500 per matter, compared with a national average of $16,000.
``This high level of workload prohibits prosecutors and legal officers from dedicating adequate time to the preparation of matters that can lead to rushed and ill-prepared decision-making.''
The report points out that additional judges have been appointed in recent years, but no extra funds have been provided by the Government to the ODPP to cope with the added workload.
The current funding model for the ODPP ``gives the impression that funding for criminal matters favours the accused rather than the victim or the community as a whole'', it says. ``It is interesting to note the funding allocation for Legal Aid Queensland from commonwealth and state sources is $101.3 million.''
This compares with about $30million for the ODPP.
