Lt. Col. Presod THE PUBLIC Services Commission is going ahead with hearings into the disciplinary charges against some 800 interdicted prison warders, despite the decision of lawyers for the warders to continue under protest only.
The lawyers for the warders had walked out of the hearings in November, after the tribunal refused to postpone the hearings to deal with concerns they had raised.
The team of lawyers representing the warders, which now includes Frank Phipps, Q.C., is still awaiting the responses. In the meantime, the panel has gone ahead, completing hearings involving warders from the St. Andrew Remand Centre, Stony Hill. They started hearing cases against 11 female warders from Fort Augusta Prison, St. Catherine, last Friday. These hearings will continue on December 15.
Mr. Phipps, who is representing a female warder, confirmed yesterday that the legal team was appearing under protest. He said they were challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal, but were prepared to go along with the hearings until the matter was resolved.
A concern of the lawyers is that if it was a single hearing taking place in different stages, the composition of the tribunal could not be changed. The tribunal recently replaced one of its members, K. K. Walters, with Eileen Biamby. The other members are former High Court Judge Avril McKain and former Police Commissioner Herman Ricketts.
The are also questioning the jurisdiction of the tribunal in which, they say, the Commission is acting as both judge and prosecutor.
Another concern was triggered by statements by prosecuting attorneys from the Attorney-General's Department, that they had no information that the Director of Public Prosecutions would not be proceeding with criminal charges against the warders, eventually. Under the Public Service Staff Orders, criminal proceedings must be disposed of prior to disciplinary hearings.
They are also concerned about, what Mr. Phipps says is the Staff Orders' provision that warders can remain on sick leave for up to three days without being required to produce medical certificates.
He said that if the female warders are ordered dismissed, the lawyers would appeal to the local Privy Council. If they are successful, they will seek a Full Court hearing to dismiss the charges. The first five warders heard from and recommended dismissed have already announced their intention to appeal the decision.
Yesterday, The Gleaner learned that the Correctional Services is continuing its policy of recalling some of the warders.
Doctors in the penal institutions had stated in October that the Commissioner of Corrections, Lt. Colonel John Prescod, would reinstate some 300 of the dismissed warders. The Commissioner has denied the figure, but the programme of reinstation has been continuing quietly at all penal centres which are short-staffed.
Some 800 prison warders employed by the Correctional Services have been on interdiction since February, after the Ministry of National Security and Justice brought disciplinary charges against them for staying away from work in protest against the re-appointment of Lt. Col. Prescod.
