DPP report still missing
published: Tuesday | February 1, 2005

By Robert Hart, Parliamentary Reporter

THERE IS still no sign of a report requested by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson nine months ago, and expected by Parliament, on activities at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

"I'm a bit disappointed that the prime minister's promise to have the DPP's report to Parliament has yet to be satisfied," Delroy Chuck, opposition spokesman on justice, told The Gleaner on Sunday.

Mr. Chuck called on the Government, specifically Prime Minister Patterson or Senator A.J. Nicholson, the minister of justice, to say when the report can be expected.

Yesterday, Senator Burchell Whiteman, minister of information, told The Gleaner that the final version of the report has not yet been received from the office of the DPP.

DRAFT UNFIT

Last month, the justice minister said that the DPP's report, requested by Prime Minister Patterson, soon after the controversial 'foul-up' in the Janice Allen murder case, would be ready in early January. Initially, Senator Nicholson had expected the report to be tabled in December, but he said the draft submitted was not "up to the standard necessary for Parliament."

In a letter to DPP Kent Pantry last year, the prime minister had asked 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.

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 previous 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.

FOUL-UP

Mr. Pantry admitted last 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.

Last month, the justice minister said the DPP's report would outline the mission of the office, constitutional provisions related to the office, the number of cases that come into the office, as well as an explanation of how cases are disposed of and why some cases go unheard.