Crown Solicitor's Office (New South Wales)

New South Wales
Crown Solicitor's Office
Agency overview
Formed 1856
Type Executive agency
Jurisdiction New South Wales
Headquarters 60–70 Elizabeth Street, Sydney
Ministers responsible
Agency executive
  • Lea Armstrong,
    NSW Crown Solicitor
Parent Agency Department of Justice
Website www.cso.nsw.gov.au

The New South Wales Crown Solicitor's Office (CSO) is an executive government agency of the New South Wales Department of Justice in Australia that has the role of providing legal services to the government, its agencies, and its statutory authorities. The Office practices in twelve areas of law, namely administrative law, child protection law, commercial law, community law,[1] constitutional law, coronial law and inquiries, criminal law, employment law, government law, native title law, property law, and tort law.[2] The Office frequently instructs barristers with regard to civil matters.[3]

It was announced on 10 June 2015 that Lea Armstrong[4] would be appointed as Crown Solicitor (to commence 13 July 2015); she became the first woman appointed to that role in New South Wales.[5] Previously Richard Kelly had been Acting Crown Solicitor following the departure of Ian Knight.

History

In 1817, the position of Solicitor for the Crown, or Crown Solicitor, of the colony of New South Wales was created with the appointment of Thomas Wylde.[6] In 1839, a Crown Solicitor for civil matters and another for criminal matters were appointed; but, in 1856, with introduction of responsible government, these roles were merged into that of a single New South Wales Crown Solicitor.[6] In 1902, the first Australian-born New South Wales Crown Solicitor, John Varnell Tillett, was appointed to the position.[6]

During the 1990s, the operations of the Crown Solicitor's Office were commercialised, and the Office was required to compete with the private legal profession for untied government legal work.[6] In 1994, Ian Victor Knight, was appointed to the position; and, in 1996, he commenced a restructuring of the agency, converting its four branches into ten specialist practice groups.[6]

Functions

The Office provides legal services with regard to:[7]

In addition to this, the Office competes with private legal firms and professionals to perform untied, general legal work for government agencies. Although it can act for individuals sued on behalf of the state,[8] the Office cannot, however, provide legal services to the general public, which is the function of LawAccess NSW, per Section 110 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW).[7][9]

List of Crown Solicitors

Ordinal Crown Solicitor Period Notes
1 Thomas Wylde 1817 – 1822 [10]
2 William Henry Moore 1822 – 1827 [10]
vacant 1827 – 1829 [10]
2 William Henry Moore 1829 – 1834 [10]
3 David Chambers 1834 – 1835 [10]
4 Francis Fisher 1835 – 1839 [10]
5 John Moore Dillon
Francis Fisher		 1839 [10]
6 George Cooper Turner
John Moore Dillon		 1839 – 1849 [10]
7 William Whaley Billyard
John Moore Dillon 		1850 – 1859 [10]
8 John Williams 1859 – 1891 [10]
9 Ernest Augustus Smith 1891 – 1894 [10]
10 George Colquhoun 1894 – 1901 [10]
11 John Varnell Tillett 1902 – 1931 [10]
12 John Ernest Clark 1931 – 1941 [10]
13 Arthur Harry O'Connor 1941 – 1946 [10]
14 Finlay Patrick McRae 1946 – 1961 [10]
15 Raymond James McKay 1961 – 1976 [10]
16 Hugh King Roberts 1976 – 1994 [10]
17 Ian Victor Knight 1994 – 2015 [10]
18 Lea Armstrong July 2015 – ongoing [5]

References

  1. ↑ "Community Law". Crown Solicitor's Office of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales.
  2. ↑ "Careers". Crown Solicitor's Office of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales.
  3. ↑ "Coin from the Crown". Justinian. Law Press of Australia. 26 November 2010.
  4. ↑ http://www.cso.nsw.gov.au/Pages/news/CSo-News1.aspx
  5. 1 2 "Lea Armstrong appointed NSW's first female crown solicitor". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of the Crown Solicitor's Office". Crown Solicitor's Office of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales.
  7. 1 2 "Role of the NSW Crown Solicitor". Crown Solicitor's Office of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales.
  8. ↑ "Who the Crown Solicitor acts for". Crown Solicitor's Office of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales.
  9. ↑ Parliament of New South Wales. "Legal Profession Act 2004, s. 110". AustLII.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "History - CSO Home New South Wales". www.cso.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2015-06-15.

External links

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