Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

The country has a new Public Defender. He is veteran attorney-at-law Earl Witter.

His appointment comes a little more than three months after Howard Hamilton, Q.C., demitted office as Public Defender.

Gleaner sources say that three persons were shortlisted for the position.

As part of the constitutional provision, Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall consulted with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding, on his appointment.

Breaking with tradition, the Governor-General also conducted extensive interviews with all three candidates before making an appointment.

Witter, who was called to the Jamaican Bar in 1972, represented the Public Defender in the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry.

The Office of the Public Defender provides legal defence to Jamaicans whose constitutional rights have been infringed by the state.

Hamilton's successes

On April 4, 2000, Mr. Hamilton was appointed Jamaica's first Public Defender, the same month the office was established.

The Opposition Leader had complained that for the six years the Office of the Public Defender had been operating, it only brought before the court three cases of constitutional rights breaches against agents of the state.

However, Mr. Hamilton had challenged Mr. Golding's claims, noting that 19 cases were filed, following the 2001 massacre in Tivoli Gardens, west Kingston, where 27 people were killed during an alleged shoot-out between gunmen and the security forces.

During Mr. Hamilton's tenure, the Government has been made to pay more than $60 million to citizens in compensation for breaches of their constitutional rights by agents of the state.

He was also instrumental in the acknowledgement of the Rastafarian faith as a credible religion.