Govt hopes next DPP will be Bahamian

Mon, Feb 23rd 2015, 01:20 AM

The vacant post of director of public prosecutions (DPP) has not been advertised in hopes of appointing a suitably qualified Bahamian, according to Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, QC. The position has remained vacant since Jamaican Vinette Graham-Allen quit last August to take up a judicial appointment in her homeland.

Graham-Allen assumed the position in August 2010 amid much controversy, as many thought a Bahamian should have filled the position. She replaced Bahamian Bernard Turner after he was appointed to the Supreme Court. Garvin Gaskin, whose substantive post is deputy director of public prosecutions, has been acting DPP since Graham-Allen prematurely terminated her contract.

The Nassau Guardian asked Maynard-Gibson yesterday if she knew when the post would be filled. She replied, "No, I don't."
When asked if the position had been advertised, she said, "I don't think that it has."

Pressed on whether the post would be advertised, Maynard-Gibson said, "We have no intention of advertising it. We want to make sure that the Bahamians within the organization will be given a chance."

While here, Graham-Allen had been criticized in many circles for failing to take a leading role in high-profile prosecutions. Graham-Allen's performance was also criticized in Bermuda when she held the top prosecutor's post. According to an article in the Royal Gazette, a report recommended that she be bought out of her contract and replaced with a Bermudian.

In July 2010, former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Grant-Bethel sued the Bahamas government for sidestepping her for the post and transferring her to the Law Reform Commission. While the court ruled that the selection process was flawed, Grant-Bethel was not named to the post. She was awarded 90 percent of legal fees in costs.

In 2012, the government withdrew its appeal against the award of costs. After the appeal was withdrawn, Grant-Bethel's attorney Wayne Munroe told the media outside court, "[The attorney general] said that there are 400 men charged with murder on bail.

"We are up to 60 plus murders this year, yet from the point that we started this case before [Justice Jon] Isaacs the attorney general has not prosecuted any murder case. The DPP that they chose to appoint has not prosecuted any murder case. It's a complete failure of leading from the front."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

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