Al-Rawi defends appointment of Chief Public Defender: No politics in law

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi says there is no room for political division in the practice of law as he appointed former UNC senator Hasine Shaikh to the office of Chief Public Defender in March.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority's (LAAA) Head Office and Public Defender's Department, Stanmore Avenue, Port of Spain, on Monday, Al-Rawi said he received "curious phone calls" from people who were concerned over his decision to appoint Shaikh in spite of her past political affiliation.

He said the success of the LAAA hinged on finding the right people capable of staffing such institutions and admitted that he and the authority's director Gilbert Peterson, SC, were impressed by Shaikh's ability and legal mind, having interacted with her in Parliament.

"As you know, the Attorney General is the person to sign off on all of the contracts and when the contract came to me, a few people asked me, 'Are you crazy?' 'You're going to hire a UNC senator to be the chief public defender while you're the Attorney General?'

"I asked what was the relevance of that, if I am entitled, as the first elected Attorney General in 30 years, to have a political party and persuasion? So what if our chief public defender had the courage to also step forward and stand up for our country, but from a different location?

"To me that is how our country ought to be run, and to me that is the way my government runs. In law, and the Attorney General's Office, there is nothing called politics."

The public defenders’ division of the LAAA is responsible for overseeing, consulting and appearing on criminal matters as they arise and is the liaison for the department.

Al-Rawi said the head office which was previously located at the TT Manufacturer's Association building, Barataria roundabout, would go a long way towards ensuring people of limited means can be given quality legal advice and services while better streamlining the pace with which civil cases can be processed at the courts.

Al-Rawi also noted the building, which was completed by the Urban Development Corporation  (Udecott), was done below budget by $5 million.

He said the project was originally estimated to cost $15 million but was done for $10 million.

Peterson said the authority's role and services have expanded beyond offering advice and representation to include the public defender's department, mediation and a duty counsel scheme to allow for better processing and case management.

"The duty counsel scheme provides immediate legal advice to minors who have been detained overnight or over the weekend and also for people detained for capital offences. This service provided by the duty counsel system covers and extends to those people who were detained first appearance at the magistrate's court."