The Tribune

LAWYERS in the Office of the Attorney General haven’t received increments and salary increases in accordance with the industrial agreement the government signed with the Bahamas Public Service Union in 2013 and they’ve now taken their fight for what they believe is owed them to the Office of the Prime MInister.

In a letter dated September 5th and sent to Dr Hubert Minnis, a prosecutor described their complaint as needing “urgent” attention.

“I feel a sense of duty to bring to your attention an urgent matter concerning discriminatory practice of the Office of the Attorney General in denying lawyers, over these many years, and who are duly employed in the civil service, benefits and salary increases that have been brokered and obtained by the Public Service Union on behalf of all civil servants in the Bahamas, including ourselves, that has been practised from my knowledge and belief from time immemorial,” the prosecutor said. “This unjust practice ought to cease under your administration, in my humble opinion.”

Attorney General Carl Bethel and State Minister for Legal Affairs Elsworth Johnson could not be contacted yesterday.

Nonetheless, in the letter, the prosecutor said prosecutors in the criminal department and civil litigators in the civil department of the Office of the Attorney General have had overdue increments and salary increases since 2014.

“Any lawyer in our office that has been duly employed as a ‘permanent and pensionable ciil servant’ prior to and including 2013 is entitled, according to the law stated in the attachments, to our overdue increments and salary increases,” the prosecutor said.

“I believe that many senior persons in the Public Service are either blissfully unaware or intentionally malicious in denying the lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General our due and just entitlements under the said Industrial Agreement referred herein. Without us, the prosecutors in the Office of the Attorney General, no court, including ten Supreme Courts or the Court of Appeal, can function because the courts need a prosecutor to either present the evidence in these murder, rape, armed robbery, unlawful sexual intercourse, fraud or forgery cases, inter alia, or to answer the Court of Appeal, on behalf of the government of the Bahamas in any contentious litigation matter.”

The prosector said the issues in the letter to Dr Minnis have been raised with the Mr Johnson, Director of Public Prosecutions Garvin Gaskin and the accounts department of the Office of the Attorney General.