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Posted: Saturday 4 November, 2017 at 11:19 AM

Govt. considering establishing Office of Public Defender

Attorney General Sen. the Hon. Vincent Byron Jr.
By: Staff Reporter, SKNVibes.com

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN light of the issue between the Government and lawyers who are dissatisfied with the rates being paid to them as court-appointed counsels, the team Unity Administration is considering the possibility of establishing an Office of the Public Defender.

     

    A number of lawyers have complained about the structure that the Ministry of Justice had implemented back in 2016, which has caused the Government to have a serious look at establishing the office.

    “But I will say to you this way, one of our options has been to establish an Office of a Public Defender so that if we have to hire and pay salary to someone acting to the Director of Public Prosecutions, in which you get somebody of seniority, a certain rank that can give equal or adequate representation to the defendants, it is an option that we would have to consider if that is the case,” Attorney General, Senator the Hon. Vincent Byron Jr. told reporters.

    Just recently, it was bandied that some lawyers were not taking up many cases that were assigned by the court due to the fee problem, and SKNVibes understands it has created a delay in the courts and a backlog of cases.

    The Attorney General explained that such an issue was not brought to his attention, “but I heard at one point that that would have been a possibility. But I have not heard that that is happening. If it is, then it is something I would have to investigate”.

    Addressing the issue of the lawyers not taking cases assigned by the court, he explained that in the interest of justice the institution would want to have someone of “some stature to support and assist it” – something that is widely practiced in jurisdictions throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean.

    “There is legislation in countries like Belize, Trinidad, Barbados that establish what these rules are. The rates that we have allocated here are substantially higher than what they pay in those islands. But it seems as though one or two lawyers are insisting that they should get commercial rates for matter[s], which is the state-assisted people who have very difficult matters coming before them.”

    Against that backdrop, Byron stated that “we have started and have not concluded that discussion whether we would need to go to Parliament to do it by statute and establish it [Office of Public Defender], because we cannot have individuals coming and arbitrarily telling government that they want an enormous amount of money”.

    The Minister of Justice lamented that a small society like St. Kitts and Nevis “cannot afford to pay the rates that some of those lawyers are asking for”.

    He elucidated that what normally happens “is the Registrar of the High Court would honour the assistance given by lawyers to the court when the High Court Justice would have appointed somebody”.

    Byron noted that when he took office, he met a fee structure and they thought that it needed reviewing. He pointed out that the Government subsequently gave  “a substantial increase on what had been paid for many years before that, as much as 50% in many cases”.

    “And as far as I know,” he added, “that is still being paid by the Registrar if somebody does get sentenced in the court.” 
     
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