Ole mas in court

THE STATE, the Judiciary and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should come together to avert a looming crisis involving the lack of trained prosecutors.

Otherwise, it might be ole mas across the country come March, judging from the warnings issued by DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, who last month in correspondence to Chief Justice Ivor Archie cited the need for training and for the reorganisation of approximately 1,000 files as being among the reasons why more time is needed to get a cohort of 20 new prosecutors on stream.

“I simply do not have the prosecutors available to furnish all the courts before the month of March 2023,” Mr Gaspard wrote.

The CJ, however, has expressed the view that there should be no need to leave cases completely unmanned to facilitate training.

“Matters can and should still be addressed and disposed of,” he wrote, even as he said he was prepared to accede to a request to shut courts on Friday afternoons.

This entire situation – and the somewhat snappish exchanges between the CJ and DPP that have accompanied it – has apparently been precipitated by the appointment of 14 new judges, some of whom were senior prosecutors, between December and January.

The impasse has serious implications.

In a system already beset with delay, further delays might ensue.

Depending on their stage of advancement, some cases could also see efforts being made to throw them out if no counsel appear for the State.

That this situation has developed is itself a troubling sign of a lack of co-ordination between the offices of both men who each individually must act independently but must, in the interest of justice, also confer with one another on matters of public interest and when it is appropriate to do so.

Already there are reports prosecutors have not been appearing for some case-management conference hearings and that none have appeared before any of the newly appointed judges hired December-January.

None of this is helped by the tone of the correspondence which has emerged, which speaks volumes.

At a moment when there is so much pressure on the criminal justice system as a whole, it is disconcerting to see these key offices unable to resolve this situation in a satisfactory manner.

It is also incredibly demotivating to all of the relevant stakeholders: the lawyers currently left at the DPP’s office, the new judges and anyone interested in pursuing a career in criminal law.

Accused people as well as complainants and victims also stand to lose if the system continues to be stymied by a staffing morass.

In addition to the Cabinet, the Law Association and the Criminal Bar Association must mediate so that a solution emerges before March.