Criminal Law Conference 2024
Dive into the latest and most impactful legal decisions. Gain an exclusive perspective with insights straight from the bench. Delve into pre-trial appeals, cultural considerations in non-Police witness admissions, and receive guidance on crucial topics like sexual assault cases, mental health issues (including fitness to plead and 'effective participation'), and forensic evidence. Sessions also encompass a vital focus on advocacy, practice management, and ethics. WEB243NZA07Z
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD hours
Session 1
Criminal Law Hot Spots and Significant Decisions
Chair: Janine Bonifant, Barrister, Aurora Chambers
9.00am to 10.00am PANEL DISCUSSION
Address critical mental health issues in the criminal justice system, in particular fitness to plead and the allied notion of ‘effective participation’
Panelists:
Her Hon. Judge P Sinclair, The District Court of New Zealand
Genevive Vear, Senior Lawyer, Ministry of Justice - Appeals Counsel, Public Defence Service Tauranga
Professor Warren Brookbanks, Auckland University of Technology
Nick Chisnall KC, Barrister, Augusta Chambers
10.00am to 11.00am Strategic Insights and Techniques in Criminal Advocacy
- Dealing with disclosure issues
- Understanding the prosecution's case
- Shaping your defence narrative
- Navigating agreed facts and admissions
- Making critical pre-trial decisions
- Perfecting the art of cross-Examination and evidence in chief
Presented by Lynne Mathieson, Barrister, Gold Legal
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Break
11.15am to 12.15pm A Trauma Informed Approach to Criminal Justice
- The impact of trauma and its nexus to offending (this is significantly important in the CJS as many people who come before it have suffered trauma experiences)
- What becoming trauma informed in the CJS means
- What we can do going forward to ensure we are being trauma informed and the impact this will have on proceedings within the CJS
Presented by Anoushka Bloem, Principal, Bloem & Associates, Criminal Defence Specialist
12.15pm to 1.15pm VIEW FROM THE BENCH: Criminal Law Advocacy: A Judicial Perspective
With over 30 years of experience in criminal law and a strong reputation for ethics and professionalism, Judge CM Ryan will share valuable insights into criminal law advocacy.
Presented by Her Hon. Judge CM Ryan, The District Court of New Zealand
Learning Objectives:
- Consider the critical mental health issues in the criminal justice system, in particular fitness to plead and the allied notion of ‘effective participation
- Examine the practical aspects and implications of the latest and crucial decisions
- Gain a better understanding of trauma informed approach to criminal justice
- Receive valuable perspective and advice from the Judiciary on criminal law advocacy
Session 2
Mastering the Legal Triad: Evidence, Advocacy Strategies, and Ethical Considerations in Criminal Law
Chair: Dr Amanda Bean, Director, Bean Law
2.00pm to 3.00pm HOW EVIDENCE CAN BE USED DURING AND AFTER TRIAL: FORENSIC EVIDENCE FOR CRIMINAL MATTERS
Interpreting Findings in Alcohol, Toxicology, and Drug Cases: Guidance for Criminal Lawyers
Presented by Dr Anna Sandiford, Director, The Forensic Group Ltd
Biological Evidence and Body Fluids: What do the Findings Mean?
- Where to start when you receive an ESR report
- Limitations of the testing
- When, how and by whom
Presented by Paige McElhinney, Director and Forensic Science Consultant, The Forensic Group Ltd
3.00pm to 4.00pm A Roundup of Significant Decisions from 2023
- Revisiting the test for pre-trial criminal appeals
- Factoring in specific vulnerabilities in the social media age for name suppression
- When should there be direction around intoxication as relevant to intent?
- Addressing admissions to non-Police witnesses in a cultural context
- Guidance on s 146 versus s 147 of the Criminal Procedure Act
Presented by Maree Cross, Barrister, Lorne Street Chambers
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
4.15pm to 5.15pm Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Criminal Law Practice
Presented by David Stevens, Barrister, 4 Vulcan, Barristers
Learning Objectives:
- Gain perspective into current and emerging capabilities in forensic evidence
- Benefit from strategic insights and techniques in criminal advocacy
- Receive practical guidance on ethical practice of criminal law
Presenters
Judge P Sinclair
Judge Sinclair was admitted to the bar in 1987. She has been practising as a staff solicitor and barrister in Auckland for over 22 years and warranted as a District Inspector for Mental Health Services for four years. Her legal career commenced as a staff solicitor at McElroy Morrison. She then went to the litigation department at Keegan Alexander. In 1993 she commenced practice as a barrister sole undertaking criminal work and representing patients in proceedings under the Mental Health Act. Her criminal practice has been predominantly in the District Court in both summary and jury trial jurisdictions including appeals and sentencings in the High Court and Court of Appeal. Judge Sinclair has served on the Auckland District Law Society Criminal Law Committee for the past three years and is an accredited LEADR mediator.
Maree Cross
Maree practices in criminal and civil litigation. In addition to her LLB (Hons)/BA from the University of Auckland (graduating with a Senior Prize and Senior Scholarship respectively), she holds an LLM (graduating as a Scholar) from Columbia University, New York. Maree was full-time junior to David PH Jones KC as well as a Senior Associate in litigation at MinterEllisonRuddWatts. She joined the independent bar in 2016 at Lorne Street Chambers with Mr Jones. She has acted for a number of high-profile individuals and appears regularly in the District and High Courts, with particular expertise in the criminal jury trial jurisdiction. She is Convenor of one of the Auckland Standards Committees, member of the NZLS National S30 Interview Panel, and contributing author to the Thomson Reuters’ text, “Privacy Law in New Zealand”.
Professor Warren Brookbanks
An internationally recognised authority in criminal law, mental health law, criminal justice and non-adversarial justice, Warren is Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies at AUT. With a particular interest in therapeutic jurisprudence, he is also the founder and Director of AUT’s Centre for Non-Adversarial Justice. Warren thoroughly enjoys teaching criminal law and mental health law and is dedicated to encouraging and supporting new lines of research in AUT’s Law School. He is currently planning novel research and programmes in association with the Centre for Non-Adversarial Justice, and beyond this has already established a broader programme of research and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Nick Chisnall
Nick is a barrister at Blackstone Chambers. Before joining the bar, he was the Public Defence Service's General Counsel and oversaw the PDS's appeal practice. Before that, he was Crown Counsel at the Crown Law Office, where he undertook appeals on behalf of the Solicitor-General. He has appeared many times on behalf of both defendants and the Crown in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Nick is an experienced jury trial advocate, both as a senior Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer and has defended and prosecuted all types of serious criminal cases.
Judge CM Ryan
Judge Claire Ryan has been a District Court Judge for 12 years. She now works mainly in the area of therapeutic jurisprudence: in the family violence court which she leads and in the mental health and youth courts. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Ryan was admitted to the New Zealand Bar in 1985, then moved to Melbourne in 1990, where she was admitted to the bars of the Federal Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of ACT in 1990, and the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1993. She returned to New Zealand in 1995 where she practised as a family and employment lawyer, defence counsel then as a Crown prosecutor. Judge Ryan has been involved in judging at the World Schools Debating Championships since 1988. She is an amateur astronomer who enjoys teaching others to recognise constellations, chases solar eclipses and dreams of discovering a comet. She is a very amateur watchmaker with a passion for collecting Swatches.
Paige McElhinney
Paige McElhinney has worked in forensic science for the past 18 years. She has worked for both the Crown, at ESR, and the defence, now a forensic science consultant for The Forensic Group Ltd. Her areas of knowledge and expertise include - crime scene examination, body fluid identification, blood stain pattern interpretation, clothing damage, hair comparisons, footwear impression location, recovery and comparison and using DNA results to assist in interpretations. In her time at ESR she was a lead scientist for the Crown for over 720 cases including 25 homicides. Paige was the Doctors for Sexual Abuse Care (DSAC) (now MEDSAC) liaison at ESR and represented ESR at training courses on sexual abuse for medical personnel run by DSAC, as well as at the training of Police Medical Officers. She was also part of the team that developed the most recent medical examination kit and co-authored the chapters on Forensic Specimens and Forensic Science and Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault in The Medical Management of Sexual Assault (Sixth Edition 2006), published by DSAC. Paige's knowledge has been employed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime where she was contracted to develop an Introduction to Forensic Science Course for the Palestinian National Authority, and by the New Zealand Law Commission, working with them on issues relating to expert witnesses and forensic biological data management.
Dr Anna Sandiford
The Forensic Group was established in 2008 by Dr Anna Sandiford, a Senior Forensic Science Consultant with many years' experience in New Zealand and overseas who started her forensic science career in 1998. Her expert witness history includes expertise in alcohol toxicology (particularly alcohol calculations), drug driving, drugs, footwear, glass, physical fits and pollen. Since starting the company, Dr Sandiford has developed expertise in managing large and complex cases, having been involved in multiple high-profile cases including the 2009 Bain retrial, the 2015 Lundy retrial, the 2015 Privy Council decision of an unsafe conviction of Teina Pora for the murder of Susan Burdett and many others. She has been referred to as 'the expert on experts' and is author of Forensic Science and the Law: a guide for police, lawyers and expert witnesses (Thomson Reuters, 2nd edition, 2019; third edition currently in prep) and the general interest book Expert Witness (HarperCollins, 2011). Dr Sandiford has extensive national and international networks from which to locate experts from across a broad range of expertise including rare and unusual skill sets. She has worked extensively with Legal Aid and the NZ Law Commission on issues relating to expert witnesses, forensic standards and the review into NZ’s current DNA legislation. In 2020, she was appointed by former Justice Minister Andrew Little to the Establishment Advisory Group for the New Zealand Criminal Cases Review Commission. She lectures on forensic science at the University of Canterbury as an Honorary Associate Professor and also at the University of Otago as a guest lecturer.
Lynne Mathieson
Lynne Mathieson has worked within the Criminal Justice sector for over 25 years. Lynne joined the Police in 1996 and served as a frontline officer in rural areas such as New Plymouth, Tokoroa, Mangakino, and Paeroa. She then made her way to South Auckland where she was promoted to Sergeant and spent time as a Prosecutor in both the Otahuhu and Manukau District Courts. Eventually, she went back on the streets where she was promoted to the rank of Senior Sergeant. Her last sworn role was as Senior Sergeant in charge of the Otara station. In order to juggle family commitments better, she left as a sworn officer and took up various Police non-sworn contract roles within the Counties Manukau District. These included setting up the Investigative Support Unit (ISU), managing the Counties Manukau South, Criminal Justice Support Unit (CJSU), and conducting reviews and training at various levels of the organization. She graduated from AUT law school in 2016 and worked again as a Police prosecutor in Manukau, Papakura, and Pukekohe. She swapped to the Defence in January 2023 when she took up a Senior Solicitor role with Gold Legal Ltd. During her session, she aims to pass on practical advice regarding navigating the lead up to trial, while also prompting thought and discussion regarding the challenges facing both Prosecution and Defence within the Criminal Justice environment.
Anoushka Bloem
Anoushka Bloem founded Bloem and Associates as one of the only specialist criminal defence practices in Auckland. Anoushka specialises in jury trials for serious crime. She conducts jury trials in the Auckland region District Courts and the High Court. She also conducts appeals in the Court of Appeal. Anoushka represents people charged with the full spectrum of criminal charges. She regularly defends clients charged with sexual, violence drug and dishonesty offending. Anoushka has 15 years’ experience in the area of criminal law. Anoushka was admitted to the bar in 2004. She is a member of the Criminal bar association, is the Vice President of the Auckland Women Lawyer’s Association and is a committee member of the Auckland District Court sexual violence pilot.