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No Prosecutors for New Courts Amid ODPP Staff Shortages
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago /Crime & Justice

No Prosecutors for New Courts Amid ODPP Staff Shortages

From Trinidad Express · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in Trinidad and Tobago faces severe staff shortages, preventing it from assigning prosecutors to new High Court criminal courts.
  • DPP Roger Gaspard warned in a letter that the ODPP lacks the capacity to support the Judiciary's plan to add new judges to clear case backlogs.
  • Gaspard cited promotions and slow recruitment progress for deputy and assistant DPP positions as reasons for the deficit, noting that new hires require extensive training.

A critical situation is unfolding within Trinidad and Tobago's justice system, as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) grapples with severe staff shortages that threaten to undermine the High Court's efforts to tackle a mounting backlog of criminal cases. Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard has unequivocally stated, in a candid letter to the acting Registrar of the Supreme Court, that his office is simply not equipped to provide the necessary prosecutorial support for the planned expansion of the Criminal Division.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is facing such severe staff shortages that it cannot assign prosecutors to new criminal courts, even as the Judiciary expands the High Court’s Criminal Division to clear a mounting backlog of cases.

— Article TextIntroducing the core problem of staff shortages at the ODPP.

DPP Gaspard's correspondence, dated April 30, directly responds to the Judiciary's plan to assign three additional judges to the High Court from early May. He expressed his office's unwavering commitment to the administration of criminal justice but was forced to concede, with "candour and regret," that the ODPP "is currently unable to assign prosecutors to handle these additional courts." This is not a matter of unwillingness, he stressed, but a stark reality of insufficient staff capacity, a problem that has persisted for some time.

However, it is precisely from that vantage point of institutional responsibility and practical experience...that I must, with candour and regret, indicate that we are currently unable to assign prosecutors to handle these additional courts.

— DPP Roger GaspardExpressing the ODPP's inability to staff new courts due to capacity issues.

The depth of the ODPP's deficit is alarming. Gaspard highlighted that in the past three years, several senior prosecutors have been promoted to the Judiciary, leaving critical positions vacant. Currently, there are no Deputy DPPs, and only half of the established Assistant Director posts are filled. While acknowledging that recruitment falls under the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) and the Attorney General's Office, Gaspard lamented the slow progress, noting that even newly appointed prosecutors require significant training before they can handle serious criminal matters. This situation risks pushing already stretched attorneys to their breaking point and jeopardizes the effectiveness of our criminal justice system.

Our constraint is not one of unwillingness or recalcitrance, but rather of staff capacity.

— DPP Roger GaspardClarifying that the issue is a lack of personnel, not a lack of will.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Trinidad Express in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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