Paula Llewellyn’s hold as Jamaica’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is under threat, as it appears her extension in the position was not gazetted.
If the court rules that this was, in fact, so, then scores of criminal proceedings prosecuted by Llewellyn could be under threat of being overturned, given that the extension would not have been legal.
The overall developments were captured by a report carried on RJR News on Tuesday, during which attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman has said he has filed court documents challenging the extension of the tenure of Llewellyn as DPP.
Wildman told RJR News that he is asking the court to rule that Llewellyn not be allowed to continue operating in her current post when she reaches the age for early retirement; “once she passes the age of 60”.
He is also challenging her latest extension of tenure, claiming that the documents were never gazetted, “in keeping with the Interpretation Act,” adding that he does not understand why the required documents were not gazetted.
He contends, therefore, that Llewellyn “has been… serving in that post without that appointment being validated, because the law demands that any such extension be gazetted, in keeping with Section 31 of the Interpretation Act.”
“In the absence of gazetting, she was never appointed,” he therefore claimed.
