Pantry and Llewellyn By Barbara Gayle,
Staff Reporter
THE RIFT in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over the long delay in appointing top prosecutors has widened, according to sources.
It was disclosed last week that Paula Llewellyn, one of the two Deputy Directors who has been acting in the vacant position of Senior Deputy DPP for two years, was evaluated last year and given low ratings. In addition, a prosecutor disclosed last week that several prosecutors had left the department because they were frustrated with the long delay in being appointed.
He said that if the two deputy directors who were acting in clear vacancies were not appointed then other members of staff could not be promoted.
Miss Llewellyn is acting in the post of Senior Deputy DPP in place of Kent Pantry, Q.C., who was appointed DPP in November 1998. Bryan Sykes is acting in the post of Senior DPP in place of Lloyd Hibbert, Q.C., who was appointed a High Court judge in January, this year.
Some Government prosecutors and lawyers from the private bar believe that any Government officer who receives low ratings is not likely to be promoted by the Services Commission unless the officer can produce evidence to show that the ratings were unjustified.
"The matter is in the hands of the Services Commission, therefore I cannot comment on it," Miss Llewellyn said on Friday afternoon when she was asked about the report.
The Gleaner understands that Miss Llewellyn is protesting the ratings and the matter has been in the hands of the Commission since October, last year.
Mr. Pantry, who evaluated Miss Llewellyn, said on Friday that the evaluation reports were confidential.
But, Thomas Bryce, Associate Secretary of the Jamaica Civil Service Association, said that no civil servant could be penalised or punished for disclosing their evaluation grades to their colleagues and friends. He said there was no provision in the rules or regulations which prevented workers from disclosing their grades.
The categories on which the prosecutors are graded are "personality, force of character, intelligence, judgement, initiative, output, ability to express themselves clearly in writing and orally, power of taking responsibility, interest in and knowledge of the job, punctuality and utilisation of time, reliability without supervision, accuracy, tact and ability to get on with others, official conduct, ability to supervise others, and organising ability ".
The grades range from "A to D". "A" means far above average, "B" means above average, "C" means average to be expected of grade, and "D" means below average to be expected of grade.
The Gleaner understands that with the exception of a "B" rating in the section for "Ability to express self clearly", Miss Llewellyn received a "D" rating in all the other areas.
In the section which asks: "Has there been any outstanding performance by the officer during the period to which this report relates?" the response given is "None".
Depressing
Mr. Bryce said that workers who were dissatisfied with their evaluations could lodge objections with the Services Commission or through their department heads. They must then produce evidence showing why they were not deserving of a particular grade.
The Services Commission is required to act on all complaints made to it and if there is no quick response, the person making the complaint must follow through in writing to ascertain what is happening.
"No one who has had such a long and outstanding career as a prosecutor should be rated lowly," a High Court Judge said of Miss Llewellyn's situation. The judge said he had worked in the Office of the DPP years ago and he knew that it would be frustrating and depressing for a prosecutor to get such a rating.
"A prosecutor is described as a 'minister of justice' and therefore I would say it does not augur well for a prosecutor to have a majority 'D' ratings," the judge said.
"If the assessment is true, then this would not be a good omen for the Caribbean Court of Justice to have such a top prosecutor with such low ratings," a Kingston lawyer said.
