AG calls in DPP for talks

ATTORNEY GENERAL Glenda Morean-Phillip summoned Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson to a meeting to discuss the plight of state attorneys in the Office of the DPP.

Morean-Phillip confirmed to Newsday yesterday that she met with Henderson on Friday after it became obvious that state attorneys were protesting conditions under which they work. The AG said Henderson will now meet with the state attorneys to find out what problems they are encountering before he returns to a meeting with her. Morean-Phillip said she could not comment on the protest action by the state attorneys until she has had a chance to hear their complaints. But former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj admitted that the State will have a difficulty satisfying the needs of the attorneys as they fall under the umbrella of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC). Maharaj said when he was Attorney General, state attorneys complained about their terms and conditions of employment. “I took the matter to the Cabinet. I argued for an allowance for the state attorneys pending a review by the Salaries Review Commission. I requested that the Commission conduct an assessment of the terms and conditions for state attorneys.”

Maharaj said that sometime before the 2001 general election, the issue of the allowance was raised in the Cabinet. “I had a battle in the Cabinet for these attorneys. There was a position taken that the state attorneys should not get the allowances unless the Salaries Review Commission say so. I took the position that we could not wait until the system collapsed. I said there was need at that point to give them the allowances.” Maharaj said the salaries and conditions of service of the state attorneys were well below that of other sectors of the public service, including teachers. “You could well imagine when a brief is handed outside the department and a state attorney sees the fee for the outside lawyer which is 12 times what he or she gets a month.”

Maharaj said the Government was not interested in the state attorneys. The former AG said he was waiting to see what will play out. The state attorneys have complained about the onerous workload in the Office of the DPP. There are 34 attorneys who prosecute daily in over 40 Magistrates’ Courts along with nine High Courts and two Courts of Appeal. There are just four attorneys, including the DPP Henderson who enjoy over 10 years’ experience. Despite the workload and the shortage of attorneys, the state attorneys believe they have demonstrated competence, preparedness, and acuteness in meeting every legal challenge. State attorneys stayed away from the Port-of-Spain High Court last Friday in protest. However, Newsday was unable to find out if the protest will continue today.