‘I was not consulted’
Llewellyn says she was unaware of legislation to extend retirement age
Published:Friday | January 24, 2025 | 12:10 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
Chief prosecutor Paula Llewellyn says she had no prior knowledge that the Government was planning to use legislation to increase the retirement age for her post before the bill was tabled in the House of Representatives last April.
Llewellyn confirmed that she resumed duties as director of public prosecutions (DPP) last Wednesday when the Public Services Commission (PSC) ended Claudette Thompson’s acting appointment.
Llewellyn’s return marked the end of a nine-month hiatus caused by a ruling of the country’s Constitutional Court, which has since been overturned.
The Constitution (Amendment of Sections 96 (1) and 121 (1)) Act 2023, which moved the retirement age for the DPP and the auditor general from 60 to 65, was tabled and passed in Parliament on July 25, 2023, despite strong objections by the parliamentary Opposition.
It was approved by the Senate three days later.
The Government’s justification for the bill was that the retirement ages of the DPP and the auditor general were five years shorter than other public officers under the updated Pensions (Public Service) Act 2017.
The legislation came into effect almost two months before Llewellyn, the country’s first female and longest-serving DPP, was set to demit office at the end of a three-year extension she requested via Section 96 (1) of the Constitution.
She was originally required to leave office on September 21, 2020, at the age of 60 years old.
On August 15, 2023 – days after the legislation was signed into law by the governor general – the PSC approved a request made by Llewellyn to remain in office until age 65, according to a transcript of the case before the Constitutional Court.
Llewellyn indicated, during an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, that she had no prior knowledge that the legislation was coming and said she heard about it “like everybody else” – through the media.
“In fact, somebody called me and said, ‘Miss Llewellyn, turn on the radio. So and so is going on in Parliament.’ I was not consulted at all,” she said.
“One thing I have learnt in my 16 and a half years as DPP is that where the bureaucracy is concerned, it’s almost a given that you have to live with tardiness. It’s a constant.”
The Constitutional Court, in a ruling handed down on April 19 last year, declared that Section 2 (1) of the Constitution (Amendment of Sections 96 (1) and 121 (1)) Act 2023, which increased the retirement age for the DPP and the auditor general, was valid.
However, the court struck down Section 2 (2), which it said did not give Llewellyn the power to elect to remain on the job. It declared the provision “unconstitutional”.
Days later, Llewellyn opted to “step aside” amid controversy over the various interpretations of the ruling on the validity of her extended tenure.
The ruling of the Constitutional Court was reversed by the Court of Appeal on December 20 last year.
The Court of Appeal – the country’s second-highest court – declared that Llewellyn was entitled to benefit from the increased retirement age.
But Llewellyn acknowledged yesterday that the ruling by the Constitutional Court caused some “disappointment and confusion” but said that her legal fight to remain DPP “became a matter of principle”.
She recounted hiring attorney-at-law and former Solicitor General Douglas Leys and sought consultation with the attorney general after her perusal of the ruling suggested that “the reasoning was somewhat faulty”.
“After discussions with both, I was convinced that they were wrong,” said Llewellyn, making reference to the panel of three Constitutional Court judges who delivered the judgment.
“Then it became a matter of principle. There are a lot of people out there who are very cynical about the system, … so it was important to me, as a matter of principle, … to trust the system.”
Llewellyn insisted that she will demit office in September this year, telling The Gleaner that she has already begun the process of putting the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions “in the best place” for her successor.