Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990

This Act may be cited as the Director of Public Prosecutions

Act 1990.

This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the

Administrator by notice in the Gazette.

In this Act:

Deputy Director means a Deputy Director of Public

Prosecutions appointed under section 10.

Director means the Director of Public Prosecutions appointed under section 4 and includes an Acting Director appointed under section 9, while he or she is so acting.

offence means an offence:

subject to paragraph (b), against a law in force in the

Territory; or

against a law of the Commonwealth but limited to an offence to which particular proceedings relate where the Director is authorised to bring or conduct those proceedings.

Part 2 Director of Public

Prosecutions

Division 1 General matters

The Administrator may, by instrument in writing, appoint a person who has:

not attained the age of 72 years; and

been a lawyer for at least 10 years;

to hold the office of Director of Public Prosecutions for the period specified in the instrument of appointment or without limitation on the period of office.

Subject to this Act, the Director is entitled to the salary and allowances, and holds office on the terms and conditions, as the

Administrator determines.

Note for subsection (2)

See Division 2 in relation to the Director's entitlements to long service leave and superannuation.

In order to exercise the Director's powers or perform the

Director's functions, the Director is entitled to practice as a legal practitioner as if the Director were holding an unrestricted practising certificate issued under the Legal Profession Act 2007.

The Director must not, without the consent of the

Attorney-General, engage in either of the following outside the duties of the office:

practice as a legal practitioner; or

paid employment.

Despite anything in the terms and conditions of appointment, a

Director, by force of this subsection, retires from office on the day on which the Director attains the age of 72 years.

The Attorney-General may grant to the Director leave of absence from duty on such terms and conditions as to remuneration or otherwise as the Attorney-General thinks fit.

The Director must, as soon as practicable after being appointed, and from time to time after acquiring them, give written notice to the

Attorney-General of all direct or indirect pecuniary interests that the Director has or acquires in any business, whether in Australia or elsewhere, or in any body corporate carrying on such business.

The Director must not perform the duties of the Director's office unless the Director has taken an oath in relation to that office in accordance with the form of oath in the Schedule.

An oath under subsection (1) must be administered by a Supreme

Court Judge.

The Director may resign office by writing signed by him or her and delivered to the Administrator.

The Administrator must remove the Director from office if, and only if, the Director:

except by reason of temporary illness, becomes incapable of performing the duties of his or her office; or

is guilty of misbehaviour; or

becomes bankrupt or insolvent, applies to take the benefit of a law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or her creditors or makes an assignment of his or her remuneration for their benefit.

The Administrator may appoint an Acting Director of Public

Prosecutions to act during the absence of the Director through illness or other cause or during any vacancy in the office of

Director and may at any time revoke that appointment.

The Acting Director, while so acting:

has all the powers and duties, and may exercise any of the functions, of the Director; and

is entitled to be paid such:

remuneration; and

travelling and other allowances;

as the Administrator from time to time determines.

The Director may appoint a member of the Director's staff to be a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.

Subject to the direction and control of the Director, a Deputy

Director may exercise the powers and perform the functions of the

Director.

A power exercised or functions performed under this section is taken to have been exercised or performed by the Director.

Division 2 Long service leave and superannuation entitlements of Director

Subject to subsection (2), for this Division the Director's

ordinary remuneration is the remuneration the Director is entitled to receive for service as the Director.

If the Director has worked in a part-time capacity at any time during a period of service to which an entitlement to long service leave relates, the Director's ordinary remuneration is to be determined on a pro rata basis, based on the hours for which the

Director was remunerated during the period of service.

The Director is entitled to 3 calendar months of long service leave after completing 10 years of service.

After completing 10 years of service, the Director is entitled to 9 calendar days of long service leave for each subsequent year of completed service.

The Director may accrue service in a full-time or part-time capacity or in a combination of those capacities.

The Director does not accrue service when the Director is:

on leave without pay; or

absent from work because of an injury for which the Director is receiving workers' compensation payments.