From New Year's Day, criminal prosecutions will be brought in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions, rather than the Queen.

If monarchists or traditionalists are offended, Attorney-General and Acting Premier Rob Hulls is unapologetic, calling it ''a further step to bring our legal system into the 21st century''.
''Referring to the Queen is outdated,'' he said last night. ''Substituting the DPP for the Queen or Regina reflects the legal and political independence from the United Kingdom and its monarch that has been achieved by Australia.''

From January 1, law lists will read ''DPP vs Bill Smith'' instead of ''Queen vs Bill Smith''.

It follows two controversial changes to the legal system that the then new Labor Government made in 2000: substitution of ''senior counsel'' for ''Queen's counsel'', and the removal of the requirement for new lawyers to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

Mr Hulls conceded the latest change might offend some traditionalists, but said it was crucial to modernise legal procedures. ''Our justice system should be based on modern, accessible, coherent, understandable laws, rather than just tradition,'' he said.

Asked if this was preparing the ground for a republic, he replied: ''No. This is all about making our laws and legal procedures relevant. It's no more or less than that.''

Removing the Queen's name from legal proceedings was consistent with the passage of the Australia Act under prime minister Bob Hawke in the 1980s, Mr Hulls said.

That act removed the ability of the monarch to disallow or suspend federal or state laws in Australia, terminated the power of the British Parliament to legislate for Australia, and abolished appeals from Australia's High Court to the Privy Council.

Mr Hulls said removing references to the Queen was part of the Government's commitment to simplify the legal system.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act, effective from January 1, state laws will be written in plain English. For example, the word ''accused'' replaces ''defendant'', ''sentence'' replaces ''sentencing order'' and ''set aside'' replaces ''quashed''.

''Latin and Norman French words have been replaced by modern English words, and concepts now regarded as outdated, such as indictment by grand jury, have been abolished,'' Mr Hulls said.