Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding is proposing an amend-ment to legislation governing the Office of the Public Defender to allow the official to appear in court on behalf of Jamaicans who are seeking redress from the state.

Speaking with The Gleaner in a recent interview, Mr. Golding pointed out that the legislative framework currently restricts the Public Defender from taking a case to court directly on behalf of aggrieved persons, but instead has to hire an attorney-at-law to represent the office.

"I want to see a Public Defender who is a fighter, a champion, a bulldog in the defence of poor people's rights. When it is rich people, they can employ their big lawyers, but when poor people are abused, I want it (Office of the Public Defender) to be the place where they go and feel they have someone who will fight for them," said Mr. Golding.

The Opposition Leader had criticised the Office of the Public Defender, under its previous leadership, for not placing more emphasis on constitutional breaches.

He had said that since the establishment of the Office of the Public Defender six years ago, fewer than four cases relating to constitutional rights breaches against agents of the state had been pursued.

However, former Public Defen-der, Howard Hamilton Q.C., had countered that claim, contending 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.

Witter given nod

Commenting on the appointment of a new Public Defender, Mr. Golding said the Governor-General had advised him that he would be making an appointment.

The Gleaner reported last week that Earl Witter, veteran attorney-at-law, was given the nod by the Governor-General for the vacant position. On June 9, Mr. Hamilton demitted office, six years after the Office of the Public Defender was established.

"What I will say is that based on the consultation that the Governor-General and I have had both in writing and verbally, and discussions I have had with the legal people in our party, I am encouraged and I am hoping that through that appointment, we will see that kind of assertiveness and aggressiveness in the Office of the Public Defender that was the intention when the office was created," he stressed.