The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

I read with some disappointment a news article in your June 19, 2019 edition that reported concerns being raised about the appointment of Commonwealth citizens to senior posts in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

While I do not share the concern reportedly held by some of those lawyers who believe Bahamians ought to have been appointed to the posts presumably based solely upon nationality, I believe that the appointments highlight the need for greater transparency in the appointment of legal and judicial officers. I do not recall these posts being advertised locally. But it may be that attention is only given to these matters when a foreign national is appointed.

As an outside observer I find it reasonable that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission should recommend the appointment of a Deputy Director and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions individuals who in the Commission’s best judgement can effectively address the needs of the Department. The nationality of those persons should not be a primary concern.

The fact remains that weak administrative and procedural processes in the Legal Department continue to result in an unacceptable backlog in criminal cases. There has been no meaningful reduction in the backlog of cases before the courts subsequent to the creation of the Department of Public Prosecutions.

By every yardstick the continuation of the backlog amounts to justice denied – to the victims of crimes, their families and friends and by extension to our whole community.

To outside observers and concerned citizens it has become abundantly clear that fresh leadership is required to improve the effectiveness of the efforts of prosecuting attorneys in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Reasonable minds will accept that the appointment of two Commonwealth citizens is meant to assist the Director and indeed the Department to improve performance and results to the benefit of the Bahamian society.

Young attorneys in the Office of the Attorney General ought to learn the history of their Department. Not so long ago, all senior posts in that Office and in our courts were held by persons from around the Commonwealth. Beginning in the 1990s a concerted effort was made by the government to encourage the Judicial and Legal Commission to ensure that competent, qualified Bahamians were considered for appointment. The first Bahamian Director of Legal Affairs was not appointed until the middle of the 1990s. The first appointment of a Bahamian to the Court of Appeal was also made in the 1990s when for the first time a measurable increase in the number of Bahamians appointed to senior positions in the government’s legal department and in the courts was experienced.

Further, it should not be lost on the attorneys in the Legal Department, as it is not lost on the public, the current Opposition Party – that just two years ago led the government of The Bahamas – regularly engaged Commonwealth lawyers to lead prosecutions and or defences involving the government or senior members of the Party in both civil and criminal matters before our courts.

In recent times a Jamaican QC was engaged by the PLP government to prosecute a case where a member of parliament’s son had been killed because the MP stated repeatedly that he had no confidence in the government’s Bahamian lawyers prosecuting the case. Now, a Jamaican QC is currently engaged in the defence of a former MP facing allegations of corruption in the courts and an English QC is engaged in the defence of another facing similar changes.

As if to close the circle, the present government has also engaged an English QC to lead the Crown’s prosecution of the corruption charges against the former parliamentarians. I have not heard complaints about these engagements.

THE RECORDER

Nassau

June 23, 2019