PSA seeks urgent order to halt Crown Law leadership restructure

The union says staff had nine working days to respond to a 30-page proposal. Solicitor-General Anna Adams KC has denied breaching the collective agreement or her good faith obligations.

By Webfit News | 7 November 2026

The Public Service Association has asked the Employment Relations Authority to put Crown Law’s leadership restructure on hold after Solicitor-General Anna Adams KC told staff on Friday that decisions had been made, according to the union.

The PSA says it asked Adams on Thursday to keep the existing structure and positions in place while its legal challenge was heard. The union says it received no such undertaking and that the Authority has scheduled a hearing on the interim application for 4 December.

The immediate question is whether Crown Law can implement the changes while the Authority considers the wider dispute. In its claim, filed on 2 November, the PSA alleges Crown Law breached the collective agreement and its duty of good faith. It wants Crown Law to meet its consultation obligations before making a decision on the proposal. The union is also seeking an order requiring mediation.

How widely would the changes be felt?

The proposal sent to staff on 13 October would remove two Deputy Solicitor-General roles and create three, including an Auckland-based role focused on prosecution advocacy. The union says staff had nine working days to respond to the 30-page document and that requests for more time were declined.

The dispute turns in part on how the impact is measured. According to the union’s filing, Adams said four of Crown Law’s roughly 200 staff were directly affected. The PSA argues the impact goes wider because changing who leads the work can also change how the teams below them operate. LawFuel reported that Adams had denied breaching the collective agreement or her good faith obligations.

The PSA has also raised concerns about public confidence in prosecutorial independence. It argues that dividing criminal work among senior leaders, including some who represent ministers in litigation, deserves closer scrutiny.

The union says Friday’s decision came too close to election day. Its interim application asks the Authority to decide whether the existing leadership structure should stay in place while the consultation dispute is heard.

Sources include the PSA’s statement on the interim application, supplied to Webfit News, and LawFuel’s reporting on Adams’s earlier denial. Webfit News could not verify a public Crown Law response to the latest application.