Politics to distract the public
The Editor:
The Ministry of the Attorney General is the arm of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago responsible for providing legal services to the Government and its various agencies. The constitution gives directives to this office holder to act independently as a guardian of the public interest, and to ensure that the rights of all citizens are protected. Under that office we have the (Director of Public Prosecution) DPP to represent the State in criminal proceedings and the Solicitor General to represent the State in Civil proceedings.
The former Solicitor General Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell wrote to the Prime Minister on August 30th 2013 seeking an investigation into her claims of collusion involving attorneys in prison litigation cases. From all reports, this has been an ongoing issue prior to 2010.
The Prime Minister had no choice but to pass this letter to the Attorney General since he is the person outlined in the constitution responsible for investigating these matters. Obviously, he himself cannot and will not do the investigation.
After discussions between the AG and the SG, The Sg writes a letter stating that she saw no further need for investigations.
Now we are hearing calls from all political sectors for the AG to step aside.
All this is my view is simply politics to distract the public.
Sophia Peters
Via email