Who will be the next Att Gen? Will Locals be overlooked?
Our sources close to the selection process in the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and other senior National Democratic Party (NDP) Government insiders have been keeping our news room up to date on the selection process.
The closing for application for the post of Attorney General is today October 15, 2014 and according to one source many applications have poured in from overseas but less than a handful locally.
It was this news site that was the first to accurately report that Dr. Malcolm, a Jamaican native, who was appointed the Virgin Islands top legal boss in December 2011 following the election of the NDP, has not invoked the provision to have his contract renewed.
However, a Minister of Government speaking to this news site on condition of anonymity alleged that Cabinet already sent the message that “we will not support a renewal.”
It was also reported that a letter was sent to Dr. Malcolm from the Human Resources Department indicating that his contract will not be renewed when it expires in December 2014.
Will locals be overlooked?
It has been reported that a few local senior Attorneys with the relevant 10 years experience have been approached informally about the possibility of applying for the post, however many have declined fearful of the new hostile political culture and treatment of locals in the Virgin Islands since the NDP regime came to power in 2011.
Currently, in the Attorney General’s Chambers the most senior Lawyer who is second in command is the Solicitor General, JoAnn Williams-Roberts, however it remains unknown if she has been approached for the top post.
Ms. Roberts made history by being appointed the first local Virgin Islands’ Solicitor General in 2008, and has acted as Attorney General many times since then.
However, one NDP source told our news room “I have not heard her name called for the post …but granted I was not always [present] at all the meetings.”
However, the same source told our news room that a message was sent to the current Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards, to have a discussion with the United Kingdom appointed Governor John S. Duncan, OBE to explore the possibility of the post.
It remains unclear if that discussion took place. Ms. Richards has a contract with Government in the post of Senior Magistrate.
It is not clear if the NDP Government will push for a local to head the post. The last and first local Attorney General was former Acting High Court Judge and Deputy Premier R. Dancia Penn QC.
The Attorney General in the Virgin Islands is a civil servant post. The officer also sits in Cabinet and in the House of Assembly as a non-voting member.
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34 Responses to “Who will be the next Att Gen? Will Locals be overlooked?”
Jallow is good where he is. . If Jallow was the worker and you bring back Dancia, that equates to no work. That is the latest principle of mental arithmetic. So we don't want the AG's Chambers under the same fate as it is now.
Give it to M..on get he out of politics
Don't blame government. They are not part of the process, the JLSC is charged with this mandate.