Minister Hermangild Francis
Cabinet is now considering to increase the salary scale for Saint Lucia’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) from Grade 20 to Grade 21.
Consideration is being given to this matter, since the country has not managed to secure the appointment of a a DPP by the Legal and Judicial Service Commission.
Home Affairs Minister Hermangild Francis has said that is is evident that the current salary scale may not be enough for a suitable candidate and as such he will seek Cabinet’s approval on this matter.
“We realize we still cannot, at this stage, attract the type of person that we want,” he said.
If approval is granted, the new salary scale for the DPP will be between EC$22,000 – EC$23,000.
But it wasn’t very long ago that the salary scale for the DPP was increased to Grade 20, when Prime Minister Allen Chastanet also raised concerns about not being able to attract a suitable DPP.
The prime minister had said that the previous salary was “woefully inadequate” when compared to other Caribbean countries, explaining that the DPP in Anguilla and Antigua receives a much higher salary.
Chastanet had said that the appointment of a DPP was essential to address a number of judicial matters and was crucial to proceeding with the IMPACS case regarding alleged extra-judicial killings by local police.
He said that once the DPP gets involved, a special prosecutor could be appointed to determine the quality of the evidence and whether the courts can proceed with the case.
Western diplomats had given the previous government April 2016 as a deadline to appoint a DPP, Deputy DPP and a substantive Commissioner of Police. And so far, two of these position have already been filled.
The new government is now looking to have the DPP post filled so that some progress will be made with the IMPACS matter, so that relations with the US could be fully restored.
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