22 June 2021
Grace Haden
[FYI request #15302 email]
Tēnā koe Ms Haden
OIA request re Government Legal Network
Our Ref: OIA353/1
1.
Thank you for your Official Information Act (
OIA) request.
The Government Legal Network
2.
The Government Legal Network (
GLN) was formed in 2011. It is a collaborative
initiative of the Solicitor-General and departmental Chief Legal Advisors (
CLAs),
on behalf of their chief executives, that leverages the collective legal resources and
expertise of the Crown to support the government in the lawful delivery of services to
New Zealanders.
3.
GLN membership encompasses all lawyers employed by Public Service departments,
plus the NZ Police, NZ Defence Force and the Parliamentary Counsel Office.
Crown Entity lawyers participate in some GLN activities, to the extent that privilege
and conflict considerations permit.
4.
Over time, the GLN has matured to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the
management and delivery of legal services to the Crown. In 2013, Cabinet endorsed
an enhanced approached to the GLN governance and functions. This is reflected in
the
enclosed Cabinet Paper (CAB (13) 353) and Minute of Decision (CAB Min (13)
21/5). I have also
enclosed a 2015 Cabinet Paper (SEC (15) 22) and Minute of
Decision (CAB Min (15) 8/2).
5.
Limited information has been withheld from the 2015 Cabinet Paper on the basis that
it is necessary to maintain legal professional privilege (section 9(2)(h) of the OIA).
I do not consider that the public interest in maintaining privilege is outweighed by
other considerations which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make that
information available.
Level 3 Justice Centre 19 Aitken Street PO Box 2858 DX SP20208 Wel ington 6140 New Zealand
Ph: +64 4 472 1719 Fax: +64 4 473 3482
www.crownlaw.govt.nz
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The GLN Governance Board
6.
The GLN Governance Board (
the Board) is responsible for the governance of the
GLN and its activities and ensuring that the GLN is effectively leveraging the collective
potential of that network. The Board is made up of:
6.1
The Crown Law Leadership Team as members ex officio;
6.2
Four departmental CLA representatives; and
6.3
One central agency representative.
7.
The current members of the Board are:
Brendan Booth
Chief Legal Advisor, Ministry of Transport (Chair)
Una Jagose QC
Solicitor General, Crown Law
Katie Elkin
Deputy Chief Executive System Leadership, Crown Law
Sophie Mexsom Deputy Chief Executive Strategy and Corporate, Crown Law
Aaron Martin
Deputy Solicitor General Crown Legal Risk, Crown Law
Virginia Hardy
Deputy Solicitor General Attorney-General’s Group, Crown Law
Madeline Laracy Deputy Solicitor General Criminal, Crown Law
Anthea Williams Treasury Solicitor, The Treasury
David Soper
Chief Legal Advisor, New Zealand Customs Service
Leishia Pettigrew Chief Legal Advisor, Department of Corrections
Tania Warburton Policy Advisor, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The System Leadership Group
8.
The System Leadership Group (
SLG) is one of five groups within Crown Law.
Established in November 2019, it supports the Solicitor-General’s leadership of
government legal services.
GLN Online
9.
GLN Online is one of the mechanisms in place to help members of the GLN stay
connected and informed. Access to GLN Online is by invitation only. The invitation
is extended to lawyers who are entitled to GLN membership (see para 3).
Different categories of GLN members have different access permissions.
For example, some parts of GLN Online are accessible only to Public Service
Department Chief Legal Advisors, whereas other parts are accessible to all GLN
members. Non-lawyer staff within Crown Law who support the System Leadership
Group and/or the GLN also have access, depending on business need.
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10.
GLN Online contains a range of information of relevance to government lawyers.
This includes a directory containing details of government lawyers and their areas of
practice, advertisements for public sector jobs and secondments, upcoming
professional development opportunities, and legal resources that are of general
relevance across the Crown. Articles of interest cover a range of different materials,
including, for example, links to guides produced by the Ombudsman.
11.
Information is primarily uploaded onto GLN Online by the SLG. When material is
uploaded a considered decision is made about who should be able to access the
information. Decisions are made in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. Generally,
the information uploaded does not contain any personal information that is not already
in the public domain (other than the Lawyers’ Directory, on which details are entered
by individuals themselves).
12.
There is no specific policy for how to make a Privacy Act request to obtain material
held on GLN Online. Privacy Act requests for personal information on GLN Online
can be made through contacting
[email address]. As noted above, however,
documents uploaded onto GLN Online do not tend to include personal information
about identifiable individuals that is not already in the public domain.
13.
I trust the information provided is of assistance. Should you have any concerns with
this response, I encourage you to raise them with Crown Law.
14.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or free phone 0800 802 602.
Possibility of publication of Crown Law’s response
15.
Please note this response letter will be considered for publication on Crown Law’s
website. If it is determined as falling within relevant criteria, the letter and
accompanying enclosures will be published, but with your personal details redacted.
Nāku noa, nā
Crown Law
Dr Katie Elkin
Deputy Chief Executive, System Leadership
Encl
Cabinet Summary Paper (CAB (13) 353), Cabinet Paper and Minute of Decision (CAB Min (13) 21/5).
Cabinet Summary Paper (SEC (15) 22), Cabinet Paper and Minute of Decision (CAB Min (15) 8/2).
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