Robert Hart, Parliamentary ReporterPRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson will have to wait another month before a report from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), on the activities of his office, is delivered to Parliament.
According to Senator A.J. Nicholson, minister of justice, the report, which was requested by the Prime Minister in a letter to DPP Kent Pantry in April this year, was expected to be tabled in Parliament this month but will now not be ready until early January.
"A draft was submitted but it wasn't up to the standard necessary for Parliament," Mr. Nicholson, who is also the attorney-general, told The Gleaner yesterday.
He added: "There were a few things that we thought should be better stated."
In his letter to the DPP, the Prime Minister had 'enjoined' Mr. Pantry to present to Parliament information concerning the activities of his office.
"The members of parliament on both sides of the aisle are of the view that information concerning the activities of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions should be presented to Parliament at timely intervals, preferably every quarter but at least once per year," the letter, released on April 30, said.
PROLONGED CONTROVERSY
The Prime Minister's request for the report came in the wake of prolonged controversy about the operations of the DPP's office over the last three years. Among the more controversial issues was its handling of the Janice Allen case, in which a policeman was acquitted of the shooting death of the 14-year-old girl.
Mr. Pantry admitted in April that there was a foul-up in the handling of that case, claiming that a prosecutor in his office had failed to follow standard procedures.
However, in response to the Prime Minister's request, Mr. Pantry said he was already sending quarterly reports to the justice ministry. But Senator Nicholson subsequently dismissed any suggestion that those reports would be satisfactory for tabling in Parliament.
Yesterday, Mr. Nicholson said the DPP's report will outline the mission of the office, constitutional provisions related to the office, the number of cases that come in to the office, as well as an explanation of how cases are disposed of and why some cases go unheard.
Senator Nicholson said that, based on the information gathered so far, it was clear that the primary reason for cases going unheard is the high incidence of witnesses not turning up to give evidence.
"It (witness absence) is something we will have to keep on tackling," he said.
Trinity
... 'Trinity' seeks top jobASSISTANT COMMISSIONER Keith 'Trinity' Gardner, who The Gleaner reported yesterday would be taking up a new job at the Director of Public Prosecu-tions (DPP) office, has set the record straight.
The 52-year-old police officer explained yesterday that he had submitted an application for the job, but have no confirmation that he has been given the job.
The application, he said, will have to be processed by the Police Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission.
