The DPP’s plea

We join in the appeal of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, to have resources made available to his office to continue the elimination of the tremendous backlog of cases still at a preliminary stage in court after years of delay.

At a panel discussion in the Hall of Justice on Tuesday alongside Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, Gaspard made an impassioned plea. The DPP, noting the AG’s expectation that the abolition of preliminary inquiries could eliminate more than 25,000 cases from the magistrates’ courts, argued, persuasively, for support systems to be put in place so that these cases are not simply transferred from one arena to another.

“Our ambition must never outpace the support systems,” Gaspard said. “I heard the AG indicate that he would be making certain changes legislatively, and those changes may result in… cases being taken out of the system. If it is those matters would be taken out of the system and placed at the doorstep of the DPP’s office, all I ask is that the office receives certain attention. Otherwise, the AG’s ambition would remain only that.”

For the DPP, patience must be running thin. For the last ten years, he has been making similar calls. In November, before a Parliament committee, Gaspard noted the problems currently besetting the criminal justice system. These include unavailability of counsel, and witness intimidation. For his own part, he has had cause in the past to complain about a lack of basic office facilities as well as a thinning of the manpower at the Office of the DPP in the face of mounting cases.

The AG on Tuesday announced a new public defender’s office could come on stream by next month, and a new office for the DPP will be built in two months’ time. These measures cannot come soon enough, but we must observe that the matters for which the DPP has been pleading are much deeper than edifices.

Without adequate recruitment of experienced and qualified staff, without adequate measures to train young prosecutors (or public defenders, for that matter), a new building will be just that: a building, and would have only a limited impact, if at all.

The Ministry of the Attorney General has Cabinet responsibility, administratively, for the Office of the DPP. Both entities must have an arms-length relationship, but at the same time must collaborate as key stakeholders within the criminal justice system. In December, the AG disclosed his ministry had consulted with the DPP on the question of whether a novel offence of “framing” should be introduced. That was an instance of useful consultation, saving a lot of time and resources from being wasted in the drafting of a new bill.

It is a shame, however, that when it comes to the allocation of resources both entities do not appear to be on the same page.