THE WASHING of dirty linen within the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has reached a new level of vulgarity with some 23 public prosecutors having to take industrial action to force implementation by the Public Service Commission (PSC) of the recommendations of the Muirhead Committee set up last year to review the administrative functions of the department.
Interpersonal relationships between Mr. Kent Pantry, QC and his professional staff have been strained for much too long and have now reached the stage of turmoil. Given the crucial role of the DPP in the functioning of Jamaica's justice system, we are at a loss to understand why all the pussyfooting by the powers that be to correct the stand-off once and for all.
The office of the DPP enjoys a peculiar autonomy under the terms of the Jamaican Constitution and we wonder if this has resulted in it being treated as a sacred cow. Signs of this could be seen in the carefully crafted terms of reference of the Muirhead Committee, which tried to walk a thin line between what the Committee could and could not investigate. In the event, the Committee made recommendations, inter alia, about equal opportunities for promotions within the department, which one might surmise was the main area of staff discontent. But the PSC, the only body with even limited authority to deal with problems in the DPP's office, has, for unknown and inexplicable reasons, failed to implement the Muirhead recommendations. The result is that frustrations have continued to ferment, culminating in the prosecutors going on strike and shutting down most of the island's courts.
What is happening is totally unacceptable and can lead to such evident catastrophic consequences we question whether the problem is one of simply poor industrial relations in terms of management style, or whether there are deeper, more profound and dangerous reasons for the present state of affairs. The Jamaican public is growing ever more dissatisfied with the overall performance of the justice system, abuses and delays which are used by an increasing number of citizens as an excuse to take the law into their own hands. To be confronted now with internecine warfare in the DPP's office, the nerve centre of the system, could well be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
We demand a public enquiry or the setting up by the Governor-General of a Tribunal to determine what is going on so that fundamental changes can be made to restore public confidence in an institution so critical to the well-being of the nation.
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