Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter THE CONSTITUTION of Jamaica which guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual also guarantees protection to certain persons who hold certain offices which are enshrined in the Constitution.
The offices include those of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and those of Judges of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Under the Constitution, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Judges of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court can only be removed from office for specific reasons.
Section 96 (4) of the Constitution states that "the Director of Public Prosecutions may be removed from office only for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of this section".
TRIBUNAL
The Director of Public Prosecutions can be removed from office by the Governor-General but before that can be done, his removal from office has to be referred to a tribunal.
However, before steps can be taken to remove a Director of Public Prosecutions from office section 96 (6) of the Constitution states that the Prime Minister will first have to represent to the Governor-General that the question of his removal for specific reasons outlined in section 96 (4) of the Constitution ought to be investigated.
The tribunal has to report on the facts to the Governor-General and recommend whether the Director of Public Prosecutions ought to be removed from office for "inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour."
If the question of removing the Director of Public Prosecutions from office has been referred to a tribunal, the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may suspend the Director of Public Prosecutions from performing the functions of his office. Section 96 (8) of the Constitution states that "the suspension can be revoked at any time by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, and shall in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that the Director of Public Prosecutions should not be removed from office". The method of removing a judge from office is similar to that for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Since the Constitution came into being in 1962 no judge or Director of Public Prosecutions has been removed from office.
