The Editor, Sir:

Having read the article headlined 'Paula pounded' (September 22), I deem it unfair to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) for a number of reasons, and had to respond with the following:

1. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is understaffed, underfunded, and needs to be relocated to a larger location to deal with the huge volume of cases and referrals that are sent there each month.

2. Over the years, the huge backlog of cases in the Circuit and Resident Magistrate's courts has to be prosecuted by the DPP's office from a small cadre of staff in all the parishes, coupled with the fact that the backlog is not entirely the fault of this office.

3. The Home Circuit Court began hearing cases in the Michaelmas Session last Thursday and there are 451 cases to be tried/prosecuted by December 20. Is this possible? This is in addition to other circuit sittings across Jamaica that sit simultaneously. That works out to be 13 prosecutors out of a staff of roughly 50, plus there are the crown counsels and clerks of the courts that prosecute these cases or represent the DPP's office.

4. The contractor general must appreciate that the office of the DPP is overwhelmed with a huge number of cases, and this is further compounded by the runaway crime rate and police corruption matters that the DPP must rule on every so often.

5. Since Ms Llewellyn's appointment in March 2008, the records will show she has been working assiduously to clear the backlog she inherited and still manages to allocate time to the newer cases with the meagre resources she has.

6. How can there be a failure of the office of the DPP to act or respond to statutory referrals in a timely manner when other cases are there from many moons ago? Are those reports more important than those cases where accused persons are languishing in jails over five years to be given their chance in court to defend themselves?

7. Ms Llewellyn must be congratulated for steering a ship that was so hard to deal with in the past, stemming the high turnover that plagued the said office, ruling quickly on police corruption matters, and sizeably reducing the number of cases traversed from one circuit session to the next. The comparison between Mr Kent Pantry, QC, and Ms Paula Llewellyn, QC, could not be more far-fetched since both jurists are competent in this field.

8. Finally, the offices of the DPP and the contractor general are two different entities, even though they are enshrined in the Constitution of Jamaica. The meat of the matter is the resources, number of cases to be investigated, and staff complement of these two departments.

I am, etc.,

RODWIN GREEN

rodwin@stu.ncu.edu.jm

Siloah PO