Photo: Office of the DPP closed on Monday, September 18 as 5 of 11 crown counsels call in sick
BELIZE CITY, Tues. Sept. 19, 2023
For a second day, 45% or five of eleven crown counsels in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) have not shown up to work. They were absent starting on Monday, September 18, which marked the return of High Court judges from their August recess. It is a seminal time for such a move as the crown counsels out of that office lead all criminal prosecutions in the High Court. Already there are reports that some cases have had to be adjourned due to the strain on the DPP’s office, despite the Attorney General, Anthony Sylvestre, Jr. telling the media today that they have sufficient personnel to ensure that the business of the court continues. On Monday, DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal herself was in court requesting adjournments for cases and today, she sat in place of a prosecutor assigned to the Jared Ranguy triple murder case. She was joined by a police inspector who is also an attorney. Further reports are that only support staff showed up for work at the Office of the DPP today. Amandala has also gotten its hand on copies of notices with today’s date sent by crown counsels to the Officer Commanding the Crimes Investigation Branch that, at this time, they are “UNABLE to advise the Belize Police Department” on multiple cases.
When we caught up with AG Sylvester today, he refused to accept that the prosecutors are not being genuine about their absence from work. He says he takes it at face value that they are indeed sick. He affirmed, “Crown counsels, as you know, they are officers of the crown – no less. They are ministers of justice, and certainly I would not think that any of our crowns would misrepresent the state of affairs with respect to their health.” But while that is Sylvestre’s stated view, the belief is that the absence of the crown counsels is a calculated move to force the hand of the Government as it relates to requests that they made in a letter dated July 11, 2023. At that time, they told Sylvestre that they were long overdue a pay raise. They also described the case of a foreign judicial legal assistant with under 2 years of experience being brought in on contract to receive a salary of BZ $70,000 annually for a total of $218,000 with allowances over the 2 years and 20% gratuity. The prosecutors railed that not even the four senior crown counsels in their office, two of whom have 36 years and 13 years respectively at the Belize Bar, are earning $70,000 per annum. They described the situation as embarrassing and made comparisons with a salary increase for crown counsels in the AG’s Ministry in 2012 that did not reach the Office of the DPP. Furthermore, they noted that as recently as 2020 and 2021, when the Finance Officer in the Attorney General’s Ministry went to their office to discuss a proposal for the creation of a new pay scale for crown counsels and a 17% salary increase, it never materialized. The 11 crown counsels who signed the letter to the AG on July 11, 2023 made it clear that all their patience has evaporated.
Today, AG Sylvestre reported that after the July 11 letter, they met twice with the crown counsels and they are set to meet again with them on Friday, September 22. He also noted that they have started discussions with officials from the Ministry of Finance on the issue.
Another concern outlined by the crown counsels had to do with their working conditions. They cited instances where they have faced threats from criminal elements due to their line of work. Despite this, they do not have life insurance nor security allowance. Sylvestre has said that the issue of security has been addressed and he has spoken to the Commissioner of Police and the DPP, but he would not specify if they were provided a security detail or approved a security allowance.
As it relates to the employment of the judicial legal assistant, Sylvestre explained that it is the Judicial and Legal Services Commission which handles their terms and conditions. On that matter, the President of the Bar Association, Andrew Marshalleck has said that to make such a comparison would be like comparing apples with oranges since the Public Prosecutions office is not part of the judiciary. Nonetheless, he said the Judicial and Legal Services Commission has implemented new posts within the judiciary at appropriate salary scales, and also supports making adjustments to the pay scales of other legal officers including crown counsels. However, he said such adjustments cannot all be made at the same time. He then opined that for the crown counsels to strike shows their willingness to put their needs over public service.
We know that some attorneys are in support of the request of the prosecutors regarding salaries and allowances as well as their security concerns. Among them is Richard “Dickie” Bradley who is a member of the Association of Defense Attorneys. He and others have pointed out that there is a great discrepancy in compensation for crown counsels in the Government service when compared to what obtains in the private sector. They have made the argument that the crown counsels in the Office of the DPP need to be given incentives to remain in the public service.