Organisational Overview

The Crown Law Office is organised to ensure the service provided to its clients is focused, responsive, timely and of high quality.

Crown Law is led by the Solicitor-General Anna Adams KC, who is also the Chief Executive Officer.

Reflecting the core functions of the Office, the structure is organised into four groups:

  • Attorney-General’s Group led by Anthea Williams, Deputy Solicitor-General

  • Crown Legal Risk Group led by Aaron Martin, Deputy Solicitor-General

  • Criminal Group led by Madeleine Laracy, Deputy Solicitor-General 

  • Strategy and Corporate Group led by Rob Glennie, Acting Deputy Chief Executive

The Deputy Solicitor-General at the head of each legal Practice Group is responsible for the professional development and management of the teams falling under their leadership, and reports to the Solicitor-General/Chief Executive.

In addition to legal teams, Crown Law also features a Strategy and Corporate Group, which supports overall performance under the organisation’s governance and accountability frameworks.

Connected ways of working are valued at Crown Law, and with both legal and corporate groups strongly linked to the wider whole, the organisation’s structure is designed to optimise the co-ordination of work, pooling of knowledge, and delivery of excellent services to Ministers, and government departments and agencies.

The current group/team structure, alongside a profile of associated activities follows:

Attorney-General’s Group (Deputy Solicitor-General: Anthea Williams)

The Attorney-General’s Group is comprised of the following teams:

  • Constitutional and Human Rights Team

  • Treaty Teams

  • System Leadership Team

Constitutional and Human Rights Team (Team Managers: Peter Gunn; Kim Laurenson)

The Constitutional and Human Rights Teams provide legal and administrative support to the statutory functions of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, and oversee the application of New Zealand Human Rights legislative provisions and case law.

Legal advice and support to the Offices of Attorney-General and Solicitor-General

As the senior and junior Law Officers in New Zealand, the Offices of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General both have unique legal and administrative support requirements.

The Constitutional and Human Rights Teams provide administrative support to the Attorney-General in her role as the protector of charities, and facilitate a number of international functions including extradition processes, and letters of request for overseas evidence.

The Teams provide advice and support on constitutional issues, including judicial matters, electoral and parliamentary law, and support the Law Officers in their roles in relation to the Coroners Act 2006 and the Adoption Act 1955.

The Teams also support the appointments of Crown Solicitors, King’s Counsel and Judges of the Higher Courts and provide advice on international law and matters relating to the Official Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1993.

Provision of Human Rights advice to the New Zealand Government

Touching on many areas of New Zealand legislation and legal procedure, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, and the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993 provide additional impetus to the work of the Constitutional and Human Rights Teams

The Teams possess the knowledge necessary for addressing complex constitutional issues relating to human rights in New Zealand. Areas of legislative and case law expertise include discrimination, habeas corpus, police civil litigation, prisoners’ rights, terrorism, and New Zealand’s obligations under international human rights frameworks.

The Team frequently works with other teams within Crown Law, ensuring advice provided to its clients encapsulates human rights implications and obligations where appropriate.

Treaty Teams (Team Managers: David Green, Geoffrey Melvin)

The Treaty Teams provide advice to the Government and act on its behalf in relation to the many complex legal and historical issues emerging from the interpretation and application of Treaty of Waitangi principles.

The Teams regularly represent the Crown in the Waitangi Tribunal in relation to historical claims and contemporary issues. Recently, the Teams have also represented the Crown in the Courts - tackling issues associated with the fundamental constitutional question of the status of the Treaty in our domestic law.

In recent years, international obligations affecting New Zealand law have also been incorporated into the expertise and work programmes of the Treaty Teams. The Teams regularly provide advice to departments relating to the increasing presence of contemporary statutory and commercial obligations which have emerged from the Treaty settlement process and the articulation of Treaty principles in legislation.

System Leadership Team (Director: Justine Falconer)

The Government Legal Network (GLN) is made up of all government lawyers in the public sector.  Led by the Solicitor-General, with support from the System Leadership Team, the GLN collaborates to support effective and efficient high-quality legal services for government. 

The Government Legal Services Strategy sets the direction for the GLN for the next five years.  It articulates the important areas of focus for equipping government lawyers to deliver legal services that support government to lawfully achieve its objectives. These areas of focus are: system leadership, te ao Māori, joined up and flexible services, strong network capability, and streamlined systems and tools.  The System Leadership Team plays a key role in delivering the Strategy.

In addition to supporting the GLN, this Team focuses on:

  • developing system-wide legal advice and guidance for use by lawyers and decision-makers across government

  • identifying and managing systemic legal risks in a co-ordinated way

  • identifying legal trends and developments and enabling government to proactively respond.

The System Leadership Team also incorporates Crown Law’s policy function which supports the Attorney-General and contributes to policy work by other agencies potentially affecting the functions of the Law Officers and Crown Law.  Crown Law should be consulted by agencies working on policy and legislative proposals which may:

  • have implications for the prosecution of crime (mainly criminal justice proposals);

  • affect any of the other Law Officer functions such as the appointment of the judiciary, protection of charities, decision-making on second inquests, the role as the Government’s legal advisor; or

  • affect the operations of the Crown Law Office.

Criminal Group (Deputy Solicitor-General: Madeleine Laracy)

The Criminal Group is comprised of the following teams:

· Criminal Teams

· Public Prosecutions Unit

Criminal Teams (Team Managers: Briar Charmley, Peter Marshall & Jo Mildenhall)

The Criminal Teams, led by the Deputy Solicitor-General (Criminal), discharge the statutory responsibility of the Solicitor-General in representing the Crown in appeals from Crown prosecutions to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Over 900 such appeals, and applications for leave to appeal, are heard each year. Many of these appeals, particularly those heard in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, determine important questions of law for criminal proceedings across New Zealand.

The second broad area of core work arises from the constitutional role of the Solicitor-General as the law officer with principal responsibility for criminal law matters. In practice, the Deputy Solicitor-General (Criminal) generally exercises the Solicitor-General’s responsibilities for making decisions and giving advice about matters that arise in criminal prosecutions. To support this role, lawyers in the Criminal Teams provide advice on requests for Crown appeals and judicial reviews, stays of prosecution, consents to prosecute, witness immunities and a range of other criminal trial matters. International criminal law matters also fall within this broad area of work. The Deputy Solicitor-General (Criminal), supported by the Criminal Teams, fulfils the functions of New Zealand’s Central Authority for international assistance in both mutual assistance and extradition matters.

The Criminal Teams also provide advice and assistance to the Crown Solicitor Network, as well as keeping Crown Solicitors informed of developments in criminal law.

As part of the wider justice sector, the Criminal Teams regularly comment on legislative and policy developments that may impact upon prosecutions, or which otherwise impact criminal Law Officer functions.

Public Prosecutions Unit (Manager: Philip Coffey)

The Public Prosecutions Unit (PPU) provides oversight and supervision of public prosecutions (Crown prosecutions through Crown Solicitors, and non-Crown prosecutions conducted by New Zealand Police, departments and Crown entities). This includes managing funding for all Crown prosecutions.

Crown Legal Risk Group (Deputy Solicitor-General: Aaron Martin)

The Crown Legal Risk Group is comprised of the following teams:

· Public Law Teams

· Revenue Team

Public Law Teams (Team Managers: Kate Wevers; Vanessa Howell; Andrew Britton; Mark Bryant)

The Public Law Teams work across a wide variety of subject areas including citizenship and immigration, health, gambling, resource management (including specific areas such as fisheries and Crown minerals), biosecurity, food safety, education, land law (including issues relating to the conservation estate, other land of the Crown, and public works), earthquake recovery, employment, privacy, transport, social security and family law.

The Teams also provide expertise in relation to the powers and functions of government, judicial review of executive action, legislative and parliamentary processes, conduct of large-scale civil litigation, statutory appeals, common law claims against the Crown, and government-led inquiries.

Recognising that these areas of advice extend beyond the boundaries of individual teams, the Public Law Teams collaborate closely with other teams at Crown Law.

Revenue Team (Team Manager: Maria Deligiannis)

The Revenue Team advises and represents the Crown on matters concerning the protection of revenue. The Team provides advice on powers and functions, both statutory and non-statutory, and is involved in a wide range of litigation including tax challenge proceedings, judicial review and appeals against the Crown.

The Team represents its clients in all jurisdictions including Tribunals, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and has a main client base including the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, New Zealand Customs Services and the Treasury.

Particular expertise and strengths within the Team include the conduct of large civil trials, public law (including judicial review), the interpretation and application of the Inland Revenue statutes, trust law, public finance and superannuation.

 

Strategy and Corporate Group (Acting Deputy Chief Executive: Rob Glennie)

The Strategy and Corporate Group is responsible for leading Crown Law's strategic direction, monitoring performance and ensuring good organisational governance, working collaboratively across business and legal teams.

The Group provides essential business functions, enabling Crown Law to serve New Zealand by supporting government to operate lawfully.

Strategy and Corporate is made up of six branches:

People and Capability (Chief People Officer: Kirsty Donbavand)

Crown Law's principal asset is its people. The People and Capability team at Crown Law supports the organisation to attract, develop, and retain its people while fostering a safe, inclusive, and high‑performing workplace. The team provides leadership on people policies and practices, capability development, culture and wellbeing initiatives, and workforce support to ensure Crown Law has the skills, leadership, and organisational culture needed to deliver its statutory role.

Finance and Performance (Acting Chief Financial Officer: Su Feng)

The Finance and Performance team at Crown Law supports the organisation’s financial sustainability, accountability, and effective use of public resources. The team provides financial management and reporting, oversees budget and appropriation, and supports organisational planning and performance. It provides advice and assurance to support informed decision‑making, and meets statutory and government reporting requirements.

Information Technology (Chief Technology Officer: Mike Mulvaney)

The Information Technology team at Crown Law focuses on strengthening the organisation’s digital foundations while supporting day‑to‑day technology needs across the business. Its current priorities include digital transformation, improving IT service delivery and engagement, reducing technology and security risks, and enabling better use of existing systems as Crown Law progressively modernises its technology environment.

Legal Operations (Director: Jason Haken)

The Legal Operations team at Crown Law enables the delivery of high‑quality legal services by providing the operational, administrative, research, and litigation support that underpins legal work across the organisation. The team delivers core services including legal and litigation support, discovery and document management, research and library services, and office administration, while continuously improving processes and practices to support sustainable, effective legal delivery.

Government and Executive Services (Director: Julia Smith)

Government and Executive Services at Crown Law supports the organisation’s statutory and constitutional responsibilities by providing coordinated ministerial, executive, and organisational services. The branch delivers government and ministerial servicing, communications and engagement, information management and records, workplace services and safety, and related governance and risk functions to enable effective decision‑making and strong relationships with Ministers and central agencies.

Organisational Change and Improvement (Director: Steve Maslin)

Organisational Change and Improvement provide a centralised capability to lead and deliver organisational change and business improvement initiatives. The branch is responsible for implementing significant change and improvement projects across the organisation, using agreed change, project, and process improvement frameworks. It supports the delivery of the current change work programme and works closely with other branches, particularly Legal Operations to ensure improvements are well governed, aligned with organisational priorities, and embedded into business‑as‑usual operations. The branch is deliberately small and generalist, enabling flexibility, sustainability, and effective delivery of complex change.