Nicholas Cowdery AM QC
Nicholas Cowdery AM QC*, former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, has called for the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to be confined to its investigative role and leave ‘prosecution to the experts.’
Mr Cowdery pointed to the importance of a separation between the investigator and the prosecutor:
The ICAC unearths information about corruption and this “necessarily shapes their views, attitudes, approaches and decisions,” of a prosecution.
However, a prosecutor should come to a decision whether to prosecute:
Admissibility of evidence is a key issue with ICAC prosecutions given their powers go beyond those of police and other investigatory bodies.
The referral of prosecutions by the ICAC can have a “serious effect on reputation and the finances and wellbeing of that person and others. The DPP should have that task.”
Mr Cowdery’s opinion piece appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 06/11/2015.
*Nicholas Cowdery AM QC is a former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, and member of the Rule of Law Institute’s Governing Committee.
