JAMBAR urges PSC to clarify basis on which acting DPP appointed

By Prince Moore    

 

The Jamaican Bar Association (JAMBAR) is calling for the Public Service Commission (PSC) to provide clarity on the basis on which Claudette Thompson was appointed acting Director of Public Prosecutions.

 

Ms. Thompson has been acting in the post since Monday after Paula Llewellyn stepped aside.

 

JAMBAR says there is need for clarity on whether the Public Service Commission made the appointment on the premise that Ms. Llewellyn still remains the DPP, or that of the post being vacant.

 

Weighing in on the matter, Attorney Gavin Goffe says the clarification is important in order to determine if the appointment of the acting DPP is valid. 

 

"Because if you are appointing the acting DPP on the premise that in fact there is a DPP in the position where in fact there isn't a DPP in the position, that itself not only leads to further uncertainty but it could also actually add questions as to whether or not this appointment itself is valid. So there are a number of reasons why we think it needs to be made very clear," he suggested while speaking Wednesday night on TVJ's All Angles.

 

Ms. Llewellyn stepped aside after the Constitutional Court ruled that an amendment that allowed her to write to the Governor General and elect to remain in office, was unconstitutional, null, void and of no legal effect.

 

The government has filed an appeal of the ruling.