There is much uncertainty as to whether Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn will remain in office or step aside, as her three-year tenure extension came to an end yesterday, September 21.

Our Today contacted the DPP yesterday to ascertain whether she had made a decision to continue in the role as Jamaica’s chief prosecutor, however, she declined to comment.

The DPP’s office has come under fire after the Government passed a bill in Parliament on Tuesday, July 25, that authorises the extension of the retirement age of the DPP and the Auditor General (AuG) from age 60 to 65, with the option for further extension to 70 years, without the approval of the Opposition.

The Opposition People’s National Party has since filed a lawsuit to challenge the process by which the Government has changed the Constitution without consultation to extend the retirement age of the DPP.

Amid the controversy, Robert Stephens, co-chair of the Advocates Network, says it would be in her best interest not continue in the office.

“In the circumstances, I would think that the DPP would not wish to continue because of the controversy surrounding the situation of the extension,” he said.

The co-chair of the advocacy group described the move to amend the Constitution to extend the retirement age of the two positions as strange.

“We have a situation where the discussions that are going on with respect to a new Constitution have been basically delayed and we seem to be moving in a direction where we want to have more public discussion and all of a sudden overnight we get this sudden item that is put on the agenda and in one day a change in the constitution is made. To ensure the extension of the age for retirement for these two positions which to me it sounds very strange,” Stephens said.

He further called for the Government to rebuild trust with the Jamaican people on how they make decisions.

“I think that the Government must begin to recognize that we can’t have these situations where trust is being questioned so much because of their approach to either putting things before the nation or before parliament, trying to rush things through to suit an agenda in which we are not even sure what the agenda is. All in all, we feel there needs to be a serious look at themselves, that is the people are in government and try to build back the trust that they seem to be losing in the population in terms of the way in which they make decisions,” Stephens added.