I had a response to my article on the AG, which the sender has kindly allowed me to share with you anonymously. The response is extremely instructive on the attitudes of successive governments to justice, and criminal justice in particular.
Email of January 19, 2008 from a reader
I am happy you wrote this article because as I understand it the AG's staff is very disgruntled and for too long in the Ministry of Justice the laws have been ignored and staff treated in the most unjust manner thinkable.
You may have noticed sometime last year when vacancies for Clerks of the Courts were being advertised, included in the job description of the Clerk was the duty to contact witnesses. Whereas (as a former prosecutor) I chose to do so because of the dishonesty of the police, it is not the DUTY of the Clerk. It is the duty of the police. Having to call all witness wastes valuable time that could be best spent properly preparing for trial, soemthing the Jamaican prosecutor does not have the benefit of. The Minister of Justice (present and past) and the the Permanent Secretary are merely paying lip service to justice. While they are busy "majoring in the minor" crime is on the increase because of the inexperience of the prosecutors, the lack of resources, lack of time to properly prepare for each case and the volume of work to be prepared each night! Many a prosecutor at the DPP's office today lament the fact that they want more time to prepare but how can they when the roster has them in court "back to back?"
The attitude of the current Permanent Secretary towards Legal Officers in the Ministry of Justice is summed up in her comment at a Prosecutor's seminar some 2-3 years ago "Lawyers are a dime a dozen." Consequently the people of Jamaica are receiving "dime a dozen justice"!
Before I resigned from the DPP's office one IMPORTANT issue for determination (which I am advised) recently resurfaced was the need to have Crown Counsel sign a register!
Somehow I blame the Legal Officers for the treatment meted out to them. The fear of being penalised has caused them to forget they are adults first of all and COUNSEL!!!! I recall telling the P.S. at a meeting where she said she intended to have Crown Counsel sign an attendance register "Madam P.S. while you contemplate introducing the attendance register, kindly contemplate my overtime payment for the preparation I do every morning and evening before and after court weekends included, because if you introduce the attendance register I certainly will not be reading any files at home!" The room full of prosecutors remained silent. No one wants to stand up for their own rights but I do believe that when respected counsel comments on the issues from a legal standpoint it is appreciated.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Response from a reader to my article in today's Observer
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3 comments:
I write as a former prosecutor in response to the comments made by my colleague.
I wholeheartedly and unreservedly agree with all that was said by my colleague, and say that as a result of the factors mentioned, felt that I had no choice but to leave the DPP's Office.
All the factors my colleague mentions contributed to my departure... the nights and early mornings preparing cases, little time to prepare cases, Back to back Court work etc. It was not uncommon for Crown counsel to leave from prosecuting in one parish one week and head straight to another Court (even the Court of Appeal) without sufficient time to prepare the matters. Due to the incompetence of some police officers I too had to be contacting witnesses (who in many cases were themselves police officers), and we would be chastised by some judges for not doing it, despite the fact that it is the responsibility of the police to contact witnesses and ensure that especially police witnesses attend.
Many Jamaicans will not know or appreciate the sacrifice that many of us made at the DPP to give as high a quality of justice as we could in view of the limitations.
But I think the final straw for me related to our treatment by the current Permanent Secretary. It is important that at all times the DPP's Office was run professionally, but there are considerations that affect persons who prepare for and attend Court, that do not affect someone who does a 9-5 job. For Counsel at the DPP, the signing of a register is of little use in assessing productivity or the time spent doing Government's business. At any given time more than half of the Attorneys were out of town at the several Circuit Courts. The conditions of the office at the time were not conducive to staying late at the office, so persons left at 5 (if they happened to be at the office) with a heavy load of cases to prepare for the following day.
I can say that as professionals there was no opportunity to just go missing from work or come in as one likes. There was just too much to do. And there is stringent accounatbility to our superiors. Our Permanent Secretary saw us as warm bodies filling a Court Room, and as long as a warm body was there, regardless of the level of experience, she did not appear to care.
The level of utter disdain that Crown Counsel have endured as a result of this treatement, I believe, has played a significant role in the exodus from the department. In more recent times it was not all about the Director himself as some would like the public to believe.
We were treated as the 'what lef' of the profession, and as such it was alright to treat us in any way, because if you want to leave there is another 'dime a dozen' lawyer ready to take your spot. Of course no consideration is given to the time and resources it takes to train someone to do what an experienced prosecutor can do, so while that person learns the job, justice will just have to wait. And the poor young prosecutor has to endure the stress of having to 'grow up' very fast.
Well, all the Counsel that have left the DPP have gone on to do well for themselves in the private and public sectors. The office is worse for the loss because young Counsel who have recently joined are forced into conducting cases while being at the disadvantage of their inexperience, and they are pitted against experienced Attorneys who are only so willing to take advantage of that inexperience. Believe me, there is only so much training and reading you can do in a vacuum. Somethings you just won't know how to handle until you have experienced it, or can beneifit from the wisdom of someone who has experienced it.
I am one who had always wanted to serve my country from that office, but had to eventually choose family, my sanity and integrity over the love for prosecuting. I can tell you that persons who prosecute in that type of environment, do it out of a sense of duty and the desire for justice (even those who have left).
The drain from the department will continue until people are treated as human beings and not as 'dime a dozen' lawyers; merely there to to fill a spot.
Now as the current Director prepares to move out or move on, the opportunity must be taken to assess the Department and in particular its treatment by the Ministry of Justice. Notwithstanding her lack of sensitivity to the human factor, the Permanent Secretary inhereted a problem. In the context of national Security, it is of not lasting value to capture criminals and not to effectively be able to prosecute them. She has made an effort in improving some facilities in the Resident Magistrates Courts, for which she deserves credit. But an attitude that people are like chattle, that serves a purpose but are easily replaced, does not inspire loyalty and demotivates.
For all the infrasture that is set up, it is of no value if there is no one to man the Court. I know that my experience is the experience of many who have left and some who still remain. I invite the powers that be to seize the moment to strengthen our system of justice before things get worse.
Thanks so much, "Hopeful former prosecutor" for sharing your very poignant insights into the operations of the DPP's office, and the unfair burden being carried by prosecutors. I honestly think you should make publicise your thoughts in an article to the Jamaican press. The wider Jamaican public needs to hear what you and your colleague have said.
Hilaire
>>>The room full of prosecutors remained silent. No one wants to stand up for their own rights<<<
It is such a shame when lawyers will not be brave enough to stand up for even their own rights. Such a shame.
I agree with Hilaire and hope that "hopeful prosecutor" will make his/her voice heard publicly on this issue. I also hope he/she was able to participate in the Jamaica Justice Reform process that recently took place.
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