A senior attorney is encouraging the government to seriously consider the concerns that have been raised by prosecutors, who have stated that their salary is an embarrassment given the specialised nature of their jobs.
In an unsigned letter to the Minister of Finance, purportedly from a group of prosecutors, the case for a major salary increase is made. The letter states that their heavy workload of up to 300 cases per month must be taken into account.
Attorney at law Stokeley Marshall, who has seen the letter that was widely circulated, agrees that the work of prosecutors is “backbreaking”. Marshall, who has been an attorney for over 20 years, once worked as a clerk of court, prosecuting cases, and found that the work was very onerous.
“I remember when I used to do that kind of work, if you are not careful, you don’t sleep at nights much,” he recalled.
“I don’t think the prosecutors are asking for a fat cat salary. I think what they are asking for is a salary that can keep them away from financial embarrassment,” said Marshall, who is now in private practise.
The letter dated May 26 is entitled “Unsatisfactory Wages of Prosecutors at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions”, and is addressed to Minister of Finance and Public Service Dr. Nigel Clarke. Several persons are copied, including the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn.
The prosecutors noted that a meeting was convened with legal officers, including prosecutors from the (ODPP, in February 2023 to negotiate a reasonable
compensation package. At that time, Dr. Clarke had indicated that the country was facing financial constraints and was only able to offer legal officers a 20% increase over a three-year period.
“You expressed that you understood the invaluable service of legal officers and urged us to accept the nominal increase as a sacrifice to move the country forward economically. We were dissatisfied, however, based on your representations as the Minister of Finance, that a more respectable increase could not be accommodated in the budget, we reluctantly accepted the wage package offered for 2022 to 2025,” the prosecutors stated.
“On the 16th day of May 2023, you announced an astronomical increase of up to 300 % to the salaries of the political directorate. We can therefore conclude that the indication you made in February 2023 was a misrepresentation of the country’s ability to facilitate a reasonable and acceptable increase,” the legal officers wrote.
Several groups have taken issue with the government’s decision to increase the salary of political leaders under the public sector compensation review. Calls have come from the churches, the private sector, and ordinary Jamaicans who have staged protests calling for the salary to be rolled back. While Prime Minister Andrew Holness said he would not accept the salary increase, other ministers have benefited from the significant increase.
The prosecutors revealed that the attrition rate at the ODPP is very high, mainly due to the inadequacy of the remuneration for the work they do. With more attractive salaries being offered in other jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, they predict that this number is expected to increase. They would like the government to revisit the remuneration package that was offered to them, as they feel they are underpaid given the magnitude of their work load, their inability to do other legal work, and the peculiar security issues relating to their job.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn, told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper that she does not know who authored the letter.
“I was copied on it, but I am not in a position to say who exactly wrote it,” she said.
She said the work of prosecutors is very hard, but she insists things have improved a lot in the 15 years she has been at the helm of the office. The number of prosecutors has increased from 23 to 55 currently, the office space has been expanded, and prosecutors are getting more opportunities to be trained locally and internationally. Although the attrition rate is high, she said many of the prosecutors who have left have gone to sit on the bench as judges, which benefits the country.
“The attrition in any prosecutors office worldwide is always fairly high because the salaries are not competitive necessarily with what the top persons in private practice would earn,” said Llewellyn.
The prosecutors noted that any legislative amendments, including higher penalties, will not curb crime if experienced prosecutors are not retained. With the perpetrators of crime becoming more sophisticated, the attorneys feel a certain level of expertise is required to prosecute these offenders.
“Reducing crime will be a Sisyphean feat without experienced prosecutors. If the crime plan fails, this will negatively affect investor confidence, tourism, Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), trade, diplomatic relations, and Jamaica’s reputation in the international arena,” the prosecutors warned.
