Pressing for Sentence? An Examination of the New Zealand Crown Prosecutor’s Role in Sentencing

Britton, Andrew

doi:10.1007/s10609-018-9347-x

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…An amendment was sought from the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee and subsequently approved. Although the interview could not be conducted face-to-face as originally planned, the use of audio-visual links is not unprecedented with this type of participant (see Britton, 2018), nor is it without potential advantages (e.g. Mealer & Jones, 2014;Novick, 2008;Sturges & Hanrahan, 2004).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Exploration of New Zealand Crown Prosecutors' Experiences of Working with Potentially Traumatic Material and Emotions in the Courtroom

Kim¹

2021

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<p>The occupational exposure to trauma and its potential impacts among legal professionals working in the criminal justice system is an area that has historically been neglected and has only gained traction in recent years. Crown prosecutors, as a subset of practising criminal lawyers in New Zealand working with potentially traumatic material (PTM), are arguably at heightened risk of vicarious trauma (VT) and the need to engage in emotional labour (EL). The current study qualitatively investigated New Zealand Crown prosecutors’ experiences of working with PTM and emotions in their role through three key research questions: 1) What are New Zealand Crown prosecutors’ experiences of working with PTM? 2) What sort of EL do Crown prosecutors experience, if any, through working in the criminal courts? 3) What factors in their personal and professional lives might exacerbate or alleviate VT symptoms? Nineteen Crown prosecutors from four Crown Solicitor firms across New Zealand participated in the study. The data was analysed using thematic analysis to identify recurring themes across datasets. Crown prosecutors outlined the various negative symptoms they experienced from their work-related exposure to trauma (VT), as well as the different workplace and personal factors that both protected and exacerbated such symptoms. Further, they described routinely and mandatorily engaging in EL to mask their emotions as a function of their professional duties. EL also doubled as a protective measure for Crown prosecutors in the difficulties they faced in their role. These findings add to the growing body of literature on legal professionals which has preliminarily indicated they are an at-risk population for the negative impacts of VT and EL, which can be significant and enduring. More research must be dedicated to this population to understand the unique etiological pathways for both consequences of working with PTM and ultimately, provide empirically-sound recommendations that proactively address these occupational risks.</p>

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Five individual Crown Solicitors across New Zealand were contacted, consisting of two "urban" and three "provincial" firms (as defined by Britton, 2018). Positive responses were received from four Crown Solicitors.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of New Zealand Crown Prosecutors' Experiences of Working with Potentially Traumatic Material and Emotions in the Courtroom

Kim¹

2021

Preprint

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“…Interviews were initially planned to be conducted face-to-face or via telephone; however, this was changed to audio-visual link due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the interviews could not be conducted face-to-face, the use of audio-visual links for interviews is not unprecedented with this participant group (see Britton, 2018 ) and has several advantages including increased privacy and anonymity for small participant groups, and flexibility in terms of interview times and locations ( Sturges and Hanrahan, 2004 ; Holt, 2010 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Wading through the worst that humanity does to each other”: New Zealand Crown prosecutors’ experiences of working with potentially traumatic material in the criminal justice system

2023

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IntroductionOccupational exposure to trauma and its potential impacts on legal professionals working in the criminal justice system is an area that has historically been neglected and has only gained traction in recent years. Crown prosecutors, as a subset of practising criminal lawyers in New Zealand, are arguably at heightened risk of vicarious trauma (VT) due to their occupationally distinct exposure to potentially traumatic material (PTM). However, no research to date has explored the experiences of this group of working with PTM.MethodsThis qualitative study aimed to explore New Zealand Crown prosecutors’ experiences of working with PTM. Nineteen Crown prosecutors from four Crown Solicitor firms across New Zealand participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsThree themes were developed that described Crown prosecutors’ experiences of work-related exposure to trauma: trauma is everywhere, enduring effects of PTM exposure, and coping in the moment. These findings add to the growing body of literature on legal professionals’ work-related wellbeing and highlights how they are an at-risk population for VT, which can be significant and enduring.DiscussionFurther research is needed to understand the unique etiological pathways for both the consequences of working with PTM and effective ways to reduce this occupational risk for legal professionals working in the criminal law.

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“…Prosecutors are legal practitioners who prosecute an individual accused of a criminal offence (i.e., defendant) on behalf of the Crown, Police, and community. A CP in NZ is a Crown Solicitor, or private legal practitioner employed at a Crown Law firm, who is appointed by the Attorney General to assume responsibility for Crown Prosecutions on behalf of the Crown (Britton, 2018). There are currently 17 Crown Law firms situated across NZ who assume responsibility for Crown Prosecutions within their relevant regions.…”

Section: Nz Adversarial System and The Role Of Crown Prosecutorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prosecutors do not advocate for the victim in the same way that defence lawyers advocate on behalf of their accused client, in which the defence typically prioritizes the accused client's best interests. Instead, the prosecution is responsible for impartially presenting the FEMALE CROWN PROSECUTORS' EXPERIENCES OF WORKING WITH SEXUAL TRAUMA 15 case on behalf of the Crown, Police and community and advocating for the interests of those entities, rather than the sole interests of the victim (Britton, 2018).…”

Section: Nz Adversarial System and The Role Of Crown Prosecutorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Justice, at what cost? Exploring the Lived Experiences of Female Crown Prosecutors Working with Sexual Violence Trauma in New Zealand’s Criminal Law

Te Miha

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<p>The criminal justice system (CJS) is undeniably a trauma-permeated environment as it functions to oversee the pursuit of justice in criminal cases that capture the darkest sides of humanity. However, little attention has been paid to the impacts of this trauma exposure on legal professionals. In New Zealand (NZ), Crown prosecutors (CPs) play a unique role in the CJS, working predominantly with serious violence and sexual violence offences. This role therefore comes with distinct responsibilities and stressors, as well as continuous occupational exposure to traumatic material. However, CPs have been largely neglected from vicarious trauma (VT) research. Female CPs who work predominantly with sexual violence trauma are arguably at an increased risk of developing adverse psychological consequences, as preliminary empirical evidence has indicated that sexual violence trauma has a particularly profound impact on legal professionals, and that female professionals may have a greater susceptibility to the development of VT than males; yet no research to date has focused on female CPs. The current study seeks to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of six female CPs working with sexual trauma in the NZ CJS. Data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three themes were developed from the data: Navigating the Emotional and Legal Aspects of the Role Without a Compass, The Added Impacts of Working with Sexual Trauma, and Factors Influencing Wellbeing and Help Seeking. These themes highlighted that female CPs experience significant psychological impacts due to role-specific occupational stressors and exposure to traumatic material. Working with sexual trauma had an added impact for female CPs and was found to exacerbate the existing difficulties and consequences of working with traumatic material more broadly. Further a range of individual, professional and organizational factors functioned to either alleviate or exacerbate these stressors and impacts, with the most salient exacerbator being the lack of effective organizational support. These findings contribute to the small amount of extant research on legal professionals’ wellbeing. Legal policy and practice must recognise the specific impacts of working in the criminal law and appropriately respond to this. Effective policy and practice that addresses the unique experiences of female CPs who work with sexual trauma is urgently required, to protect their psychological wellbeing from the gendered and occupational risks they experience in the CP role.</p>

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Pressing for Sentence? An Examination of the New Zealand Crown Prosecutor’s Role in Sentencing

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

An Exploration of New Zealand Crown Prosecutors' Experiences of Working with Potentially Traumatic Material and Emotions in the Courtroom

An Exploration of New Zealand Crown Prosecutors' Experiences of Working with Potentially Traumatic Material and Emotions in the Courtroom

“Wading through the worst that humanity does to each other”: New Zealand Crown prosecutors’ experiences of working with potentially traumatic material in the criminal justice system

Justice, at what cost? Exploring the Lived Experiences of Female Crown Prosecutors Working with Sexual Violence Trauma in New Zealand’s Criminal Law

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