Nicholas Cowdroy, the Director of Public Prosecutions in New South Wales, announced today that he is to step down from his present position and retire at the age of 65.  The Director of Public Prosecutions has been in the job for over a decade and retires with a distinguished career behind him having established respect from all quarters of the legal community. Although it cannot be said that at times his decisions were not controversial, many commented on the news of his resignation by recognising that it is basically impossible to keep everyone happy in the role that he performs. Mr Cowdroy rose to the ranks of being a senior council before taking on the position of Director of Public Prosecutions. As a young man he was always recognised as having a sharp mind and served his profession with the greatest distinction which eventually led to his appointment as the director of public prosecutions.

It is rumoured that the current attorney general desires to take over the position, however it can only be speculation at the moment as to who will take on the role of Director of Public Prosecutions. Presumably someone with extensive prosecutorial experience will be necessary. However balancing the rights of victims and defendants in criminal trials is never easy. Although it is not necessarily the role of the prosecutor to ensure that this balance occurs there is a large amount of discretion in the process of prosecution which leads to the conclusion that the prosecutor has a very large role in deciding the fate of the matter which they prosecute.  Needless to say, many of the city’s criminal elements will most likely breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the resignation of the state’s top prosecutor and the director of public prosecutions will leave the office with an enormous amount of experience that he brought to bear on his daily tasks.