Model Litigant Guidelines
The Director-General has the following procedures in place to ensure that the Directorate is aware of, and complying with, the Model Litigant Guidelines.
- The Director-General is advised of all legal disputes and is provided with regular updates as necessary;
- The Directorate's legal services are provided by the ACT Government Solicitor's Office, which reviews the Directorate's instructions to ensure compliance with the Model Litigant Guidelines. The Directorate is able to rely upon the Government Solicitor to identify those matters where a question arises as to compliance with the Model Litigant Guidelines and to address it, or elevate it, within the Directorate as appropriate.;
- The Directorate's debt recovery legal services for leases in arrears, which were transferred to the former Treasury Directorate from Rhodium, then subsequently transferred to the Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate following the Administrative Arrangements of 9 November 2012, are provided by a private law firm. The law firm is aware of the Model Litigant Guidelines and the procedures in place for dealing with these cases are fully compliant with the Guidelines;
- All staff involved in litigation are informed of the guidelines and instructed to comply with them, referring any queries to the ACT Government Solicitor's Office.
No breaches of the Model Litigant Guidelines by the Directorate occurred during the reporting period.
Law Officers (General) Legal Services Direction 2012
During 2013-14, the Directorate coordinated a major procurement process for pay parking machines to replace existing machines in off-street parking areas. In accordance with paragraph 1.9 of the Schedule to the Law Officers (General) Legal Services Direction 2012, the ACT Government Solicitor was instructed to provide advice on this procurement.
The Directorate also provided administrative and secretariat support to the Industry Panel, which was appointed by the Treasurer in April 2014 to consider an application for review lodged by ACTEW Corporation Limited of the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission's price direction for water and sewerage services from 1 July 2013.
Within this process, the Directorate undertook procurement activities for the Industry Panel, including two procurement processes related to the provision of legal advice to the Industry Panel. A breach of paragraph 1.2 of the schedule of the Law Officers (General) Legal Services Direction 2012 was made in regard to an initial request for preliminary legal advice by the Industry Panel, where the panel selected an external legal provider without seeking the Chief Solicitor's approval. A reminder has been sent to all Directorate staff on this matter. In regard to the provision of ongoing legal support to the Industry Panel, as required by paragraph 1.2 of the schedule of the Law Officers (General) Legal Services Direction 2012, a request for approval for the outsourcing of Territory legal work was made to the Chief Solicitor. The Chief Solicitor approved this request.