Roshan Santokhee

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

The ODPP is NSW's independent prosecutorial body, created in 1987 by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986. It is a medium sized government agency with about 600 staff, comprising of solicitors and administrative officers from the Solicitors Office and Crown Prosecutors. We handle approximately 18,000 matters a year involving offences under the laws of New South Wales, including • Trials for indictable offences in the District Court and the Supreme Court • Committal proceedings for indictable offences in the Local Court • Appeals to the District Court from the Local Court • Appeals in the Court of Criminal Appeal and the High Court • Appeals in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal • Some summary hearings in the Local Court including where a police officer is a defendant and when a defendant has been charged with a sexual assault offence against a child All prosecutions are conducted in accordance with the Prosecution Guidelines . Our Head Office is located in Sydney. The Director, the two Deputy Directors, and their legal and administrative support staff are based in the Head Office. The ODPP's three western Sydney offices are located in Parramatta, Penrith and Campbelltown. There are also six offices throughout regional New South Wales: Lismore, Newcastle, Gosford, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, and Wollongong. Solicitors and Crown Prosecutors located in the country offices conduct prosecutions in circuit courts within their region. The Head Office has several specialised units including the Research Unit, Court of Criminal Appeal Unit, Group 6 (prosecuting special crime including police officers charged with criminal offences), the Advisings Unit and the Library. The ODPP also has a Witness Assistance Service (WAS) in each office. WAS provide information, support and assistance to victims of crime and witnesses in cases we prosecute.