The incoming DPP has good examples to follow

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Public Service Commission will soon, we hope, announce the appointment of a director of public prosecutions.

I am sure that the commission is fully aware of the qualities and characteristics that are necessary for an individual to possess to merit such an appointment. The commission will no doubt appoint someone who is not only learned in the law, but fair, diligent, honest, and independent in thinking, yet cooperative in spirit. The individual should be someone who will not launch prosecutions that are clearly doomed to fail, given the available evidence. It is also important that the director of public prosecutions should be someone who has the respect of the senior members of the judiciary, as well as the senior respected members of the Bar.

There is a quality that the commission should not overlook: the ability to appear with confidence before our highest court, the Privy Council. The law reports show how appreciative the Privy Council has been of the submissions of James Kerr, Ian Forte, Glen Andrade, and Kent Pantry. These men earned the respect of the Privy Council without indulging in self-praise and self-adoration. They did well for Jamaica. The incoming director of public prosecutions has good examples to follow.

SEYMOUR PANTON