A MAJOR overhaul of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as it affects staff, and involving mediation, the organisational structure, job selection, performance appraisal, and the timely filling of clear vacancies, has been recommended by the Muirhead Committee.
The committee, headed by David Muirhead, Q.C., the prominent lawyer, was set up in the wake of staff discontent at the Office of the DPP and a perceived erosion of public trust in the office, to undertake the investigation as a result of the "undesirable level" of negative media coverage in recent months, "as well as the atmosphere which at present exists among the staff at the offices".
It found deficiencies in its organisational structure, as well as the process of selecting staff and filling vacancies. The Public Service Commission (PSC), which ordered the probe, has responsibility for recruitment and selection of candidates for first appointment in the Government service and consideration of recommendations for the promotion, transfer and other movements of public officers.
On the weekend, the PSC issued a statement revealing several recommendations made by the committee, including equal opportunity for promotions, Internet access for staff, and an improved appraisal system, but has not released the report.
WANT REPORT MADE PUBLIC
The statement, issued through the Jamaica Information Service, the Government news agency, said the commission would be developing an action plan with Kent Pantry, Q.C., the Director of Public Prosecutions, to implement the recommendations after he returns to the island. Pantry was expected back on Saturday.
However, in a news release issued on Friday before the Public Service Commission's statement became public, several local human rights organisations demanded full disclosure of the report, making the call amid criticisms that conditions at the DPP's office continue to deteriorate.
The committee, which completed its report in February, had been requested to look into possible methods of improving the institutional operations and functioning of the office.
According to the PSC, some of the recommendations made were that an organisational structure be implemented "to provide for a less diffused span of control", that there be "equal opportunity to all persons who are interested in and/or eligible to apply for vacancies in the office, and selection panels structured to ensure balance and objectivity in the selection process".
EXTENSIVE CHANGES
It was also recommended that there be implemented "an improved performance appraisal system", as well as "a development programme for staff". The committee further stated that there was a need for the formulation of a code of conduct for the DPP's Office, "which should include provisions for officers accepting invitations for public speaking engagements".
In reference to one of the more notable complaints of employees, the Muirhead Committee recommended that the PSC "fill clear vacancies in a timely manner".
The Commission said it has accepted the recommendations and has already had meetings with Mr. Pantry, Elaine Baker, the Per-manent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, and staff at all levels in the Office of the DPP.
But, yesterday, a coalition of the Farquharson Institute of Public Affairs, Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), Transparency International Jamaica, and Families Against State Terrorism (FAST) demanded that the Public Service Commission make the full report public, in the interest of transparency and to allow the public the chance to debate it.
The report remains unpublished even though the problems persist, the groups said, in reference to the threat of industrial action over yet another contentious appointment in March.
CONCERNS ABOUT DPP'S OFFICE
"Operations at the DPP's Office are crucial to the administration of justice in the country, and our organisations are of the view that, in this important matter, secret negotiating is neither necessary nor appropriate," said the coalition statement. "The deliberate avoidance of public scrutiny only serves to degrade further the system of justice in Jamaica."
Publication of the recommendations is not enough, representatives of the human rights groups told The Gleaner yesterday.
"That doesn't take us far enough," said Susan Goffe, the JFJ chairman, on hearing the recommendations. She said that her organisation, as well as the three other groups, had asked for the release of the entire report. Only then, she said, could openness and transparency be achieved.
Ken Jones, general secretary of the Farquharson Institute, in calling for the full report to be released, questioned the efficiency of the PSC. "My contention is that the Commission has not been doing its job," he said.
On the issue of the appointment of staff, he said the blame should be laid squarely at the feet of the Public Service Commission. "Mr. Pantry cannot appoint staff. So if there is a problem with appointments, who is to be blamed?" he asked.
The human rights groups expressed their concern at the "continued failure of the administration to address the deeper issues related to performance at the Office of the DPP". They pointed out that, "while the Muirhead Committee's work does impact upon the state of justice in Jamaica, it was not set up to investigate these crucial matters."
RECOMMENDATIONS OF MUIRHEAD COMMITTEE
- Mediatory intervention be employed to work towards a resolution of problem
of poor staff relations;
- Team-building intervention to be used to restore team work and unity;
- Implementation of an organisational structure to provide for a less diffused
span of control;
- Provision of Internet access for the entire professional staff to allow
for improved time and knowledge management;
- Equal opportunity to all persons who are interested in and/or eligible to
apply for vacancies in the office, and selection panels structured to ensure
balance and objectivity in the selection process;
- An improved performance appraisal system;
- Implementation of a development programme for staff;
- That a code of conduct be formulated for the Office of the DPP, which should
include provisions for officers accepting invitations for public speaking
engagements;
- The Public Service Commission to fill clear vacancies in a timely manner.
