by Adrian Gibson

I have a serious problem with the chumminess between police prosecutors and Magistrates.

I’m doubtful that one can be a minister of justice/prosecutor and a police officer, charged with investigating crimes at the same time.

There arises a genuine conflict between these roles. Surely, the conflict is glaring when issues of disclosure arise. This creates a grossly abnormal law-and-order situation.

What’s more, having practised at the Magistrate’s Court, I am not confident that police prosecutors and Magistrates – having been together for so long – maintain the so-called “arms-length” relationship. One can easily question the fairness of trials before Magistrates with in-house police prosecutors.

I am surprised that many other attorneys haven’t yet filed suits using the apparent unfairness as a ground for appeal.

I have personally witnessed prosecutors in and out of a Magistrate’s office. I have heard stories of them driving together and staying at the same hotels during Family Island trips, in rooms that are next door to the other. That’s unacceptable!

Frankly, it appears that police prosecutors have a disproportionate influence on the court.

Surely, there are enough police officers who are trained attorneys who can form an arm of the Attorney-General’s Office, tasked with attending to various matters at the Magistrate Court without being assigned to one particular Magistrate. We need to move away from police officers – who are not trained attorneys – prosecuting cases.

Furthermore, the AG’s prosecutors should more readily assist police officers in the laying of charges, given that there have been matters where the wrong charge has been laid or where defendants have simply been maliciously “over charged”! In such instances, we see gross miscarriages of justice.

As an attorney, I need to see a greater sense of impartiality and fairness in our Magistrate’s Courts. Justice must not only be done, but it must also be seen to be done.

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First published in the The Tribune under the byline, Young Man's View, here…

View Adrian Gibson's archive here…

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