NSW Public Defenders
About
Public Defenders are available to represent clients charged with serious criminal offences anywhere in New South Wales, if they have been granted legal aid.
Public Defenders are appointed by the Governor in Council. The Governor usually acts upon the advice of the
Attorney General, who is authorised by Cabinet to give
the Governor such advice. A Public Defender appointed by the Governor has tenure and can only be removed
from office as a result of incompetence, misconduct, Graduate Opportunities The Public Defender's Office offer paid work experience bankruptcy and mental illness. to successful candidates for the Aboriginal Law Graduates
What kind of work?
Program.
Public Defenders:
- Represent accused persons, usually before a judge and a The aim of this program is to help Aboriginal law graduates meet the professional practical training requirements to jury, in District Court and Supreme Court trials - Appear in arraignments and sentence matters in the enable them to practise as a solicitor or barrister, or gain employment in some other legal position. District Court and Supreme Court - Appear in some murder committals in the Local Court
- Appear in appeals in the Court of Criminal Appeal and The availability of this program depends on annual funding from the Attorney General's Department and the availability the High Court - Contribute to the reform of the law through submissions of suitable candidates. to the Attorney General and participate on committees within the criminal justice system
Candidates for the program are nominated either by their
for students and new barristers
consultation with the Dean of Law at the relevant University.
- Assist in legal education by giving lectures and law lecturer via the Dean of Law at their University, or under seminars, writing papers and providing work experience the NSW Bar Association's Equal Opportunity program in
Public Defenders also assist solicitors and members of the You can find more information here: Bar with advice on criminal law practice and procedure https://www.publicdefenders.nsw.gov.au/Pages/public_ and are available to represent clients anywhere in New defenders_intern.aspx South Wales.
Location
Fun Fact / Recent Project
Rolling Court List Program
Across NSW
The RLC program is available for in-house legal aid matters
Student Opportunities
to resolve trial matters by early case management, thus
through the myLaw website.
of cases in the NSW District Court. Counsel are typically
where there is no co-accused and no fitness issues. It aims
UNSW students can intern at the Public Defenders Officer reducing the time taken from committal to finalisation for course credit. Students must apply for an internship and addressing some of the factors leading to the backlog briefed earlier than in other metropolitan courts, and the
Consideration will be given to exceptional students ongoing working relationships between them and their wishing to do the work experience component of their respective instructing solicitors from Legal Aid NSW and
practical legal training with Public Defenders. Note that the ODPP leads to a more efficient disposition of matters. This level of professional trust and communication enables this is unpaid work. issues in a trial or sentence matter to be identified at an
You can find more information here:
earlier stage. It saves time and expense if the matter can be
https://www.publicdefenders.nsw.gov.au/Pages/public_ resolved before trial by an early plea of guilty or appropriate charge modification. defenders_intern.aspx
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