Crown Law Office

The Crown Law Office provides legal advice and representation services to the government in matters affecting the executive government, particularly in the areas of criminal, public and administrative law. The services provided include matters covering judicial review of government actions, constitutional questions including Treaty of Waitangi issues, the enforcement of criminal law, and protection of the revenue. The Office administers the prosecution process in the criminal justice system, in particular, Crown prosecutions.

The Office has two primary purposes in providing these services:

to ensure that the operations and responsibilities of the executive government are conducted lawfully, and
to ensure that the government is not prevented, through legal process, from lawfully implementing its chosen policies and discharging its governmental responsibilities.

Media statement on behalf of the Solicitor-General regarding a review of the recently published Solicitor-General's Prosecution Guidelines can be read here. Published 18 October 2024.

Crown Law has participated in the first justice sector long-term insights briefing. The briefing has now been published together with related material here. You can find information about the process here.

Cabinet Directions for the Conduct of Crown Legal Business 2016 - Click here for Directions

Judicial Appointments Protocol - Click here for Protocol. Click here for Expression of Interest Form.

This website contains information about the Crown Law Office, its functions, history, organisation and services.

The Government Legal Network

Led by departmental Chief Legal Advisors and the Principal Law Officers (Attorney-General and Solicitor-General), the Government Legal Network (GLN) comprises over 1000 lawyers in central government and Crown entities. By leveraging collective legal expertise, the GLN addresses a broad spectrum of complex legal matters, promotes rewarding career pathways for government lawyers and assists the Crown in the delivery of better public services to New Zealanders. To find out more about the Network, please visit the GLN pages of our website.

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Assistance for Foreign Authorities

Mutual Assistance

Read about what mutual legal assistance involves, why it is important and some common forms of assistance.

Making Requests

For foreign countries and domestic law-enforcement agencies, this section includes important information about making mutual assistance requests to and from New Zealand.

Forms of Assistance

Find out about the types of assistance New Zealand is able to provide as well as what assistance New Zealand can request.

Central Authorities

What is the function of a Central Authority? This section explains how incoming and outgoing requests are processed by the Crown Law Office.

Police-to-Police Assistance

Find out about the separate but complementary processes of police-to-police assistance.

Careers

Legal Careers

Are you looking for a rewarding career working with some of the finest legal minds in New Zealand, and on some of this country’s most important and high profile cases? Then join the team at Crown Law, where it really is the quality work, people and culture that set us apart.

Current Opportunities

Take the opportunity of a lifetime and become part of a highly respected government department that rewards and recognises excellence and offers a supportive and flexible working environment.

Working Environment

At Crown Law, we recruit the best, and we believe in giving our staff a great environment to work in.

Pegasus Scholarship

The Pegasus Scholarship is an exchange programme, where junior NZ lawyers travel to London for six weeks to learn about the UK legal system and junior lawyers from UK travel here for six weeks to learn about the New Zealand legal system.

Publications

Reports

Reports released by Crown Law or reports about the structure and overall performance of Crown Law, including the 2011 and 2017 Performance Improvement Framework reviews.

Annual Reports

Crown Law reports on its operations for each financial year (which ends on 30 June). The requirements are set forth by the Public Finance Act 1989. Each report should be considered alongside its related strategic intentions (see Strategic Intentions).

Briefing Papers to Incoming Attorneys-General

Briefing papers to incoming Attorneys-General provide a summary of the significant matters arising in the Attorney-General portfolio in the immediate to medium term following their appointment to the position.

Opinions

Publicly available legal opinions provided to Parliament, Ministers and government agencies to clarify specific points of law.

Guidelines, Protocols & Articles

A variety of documents providing advice and commentary on conducting Crown legal activities, working with Crown Law and the Courts, and other matters of interest to the exercise of Judicial and Law Officer functions.

Strategic Intentions

Crown Law’s strategic intentions explain the nature and scope of the department’s functions and intended operations for at least the next and following three financial years (from date of publication). The requirements are set forth by the Public Finance Act 1989.

King's Counsel applications

King's Counsel guidelines and 2024 application form.