The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in the UK is ordering the Government to cover legal costs for the appeal for Vybz  Kartel and his co-accused. The total expense could reach J$150 million. This unprecedented appeal involves substantial legal fees, reflecting the complexity and scale of the case. Legal experts suggest that the costs are justified given the workload, but the debate over the use of overseas attorneys persists.

$36M British bill

Gov’t pays hefty sum for services of UK law firm in Kartel appeal

Jamaica’s legal strategy for costly Privy Council cases under scrutiny

Jamaica Gleaner/30 Jun 2024/Livern Barrett Senior Staff Reporter 

THE GOVERNMENT spent £185,659 (or J$36.2 million) for the services of the British legal team that represented Jamaica in the Vybz Kartel appeal before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in the United Kingdom, official data obtained by The Sunday Gleaner has revealed. And with the Government already ordered by the JCPC to pay the legal costs incurred by Kartel and his three co-accused, legal experts say the appeal before Jamaica’s apex court could “easily” cost taxpayers $150 million in lawyer fees.

The attorneys for the four accused men are now calculating their costs for submission to the Government. The JCPC will determine the costs if they are disputed by the Jamaican Government.

“So, you can calculate 36 [million dollars] times four because none of the King’s Counsels (KCs) [who represented Kartel and his co-accused] are going to want less than what the Government paid their lawyers and they have juniors to pay as well,” said a source close to the case.

A document prepared by the compensation unit in the finance ministry revealed that a payment of £137,521.80 or J$26.8 million was made on April 26 for “professional services” related to Adidja Palmer (Kartel’s real name), Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John.

Before that, a payment of £48,138, or J$9.3 million – also for professional services related to the four accused men – was made on May 5 last year, according to the document, which listed payments related to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The names of the payees were redacted to protect their privacy.

The payment last year was related to an application by attorneys for the four men seeking to include fresh evidence in the hearing of the appeal while the second payment was for the substantive case, sources explained.

Jamaica was represented by British attorney Peter Knox, KC, and a junior colleague, both instructed by the law firm of Charles Russell Speechlys.

“The DPP has its own budget and makes its own decisions. MoJ [Ministry of Justice] doesn’t interfere,” Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said on Friday.

Paula Llewellyn, who was director of public prosecutions at the time the decision was made to hire the British legal team, declined to comment, citing the ongoing case about her tenure.

However, a senior government insider defended the payments, noting that with four accused persons, each represented by at least two attorneys, and over 6,000 pages of legal arguments, the workload was overwhelming.

The JCPC quashed the murder convictions of Palmer; Campbell, more widely known as ‘Shawn Storm’; Jones; and St John in March, concluding that the decision to leave a tainted juror in place after it was discovered that attempts were made to tamper with the jury was “fatal to the verdict”.

The Court of Appeal in Jamaica is to decide whether they will face a second trial for the 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.

According to the insider, the legal challenge by the accused was “certainly” the biggest appeal handled by Jamaica in the last 20 years.

“A lot of preparation would have gone into the different issues that arose, not only in relation to Vybz Kartel, but the other accused persons and there were several different applications that were made,” said the insider, who did not want to be named, noting that the process was longer than the two-day televised hearing.

DEBATE REIGNITED

The payments have reignited debate about whether Jamaica should move away from the use of overseas attorneys to argue appeals before the JCPC when, according to some local legal experts, there are qualified lawyers in Jamaica – in particular in the ODPP – who could handle these cases.

They cited, as examples, a number of civil and criminal cases argued before the JCPC by Jamaican attorneys, including Marlene Malahoo Forte, in her capacity as attorney general, and Althea Jarrett, in her capacity as director of state proceedings, as well as former DPPs Glen Andrade and Kent Pantry.

“So one of the questions that must be asked is why other Caribbean countries use their own lawyers and we don’t. This would result in significant savings to taxpayers,” said the attorney, who did not want to be named.

The justice minister would not be drawn into the debate.

“I avoid interfering in departmental decisions,” Chuck told The Sunday Gleaner.

Terrence Williams, a former prosecutor in Jamaica who has argued cases before the JCPC during his tenure as director of public prosecutions in the British Virgin Islands, believes the use of outside attorneys to argue appeals in London is a “retrograde” step and is not to the benefit of Jamaica.

Cases that raise conflicts of interest and unique points of law that require specific expertise are the exception, he acknowledged.

Williams believes the expertise resides in the ODPP and argued that the use of overseas-based attorneys to handle criminal appeals in London “ought to be quite rare”.

“I would expect that the DPP’s office in Jamaica to have to want to develop the expertise and talent of their numbers so that they can tackle all matters, conflict and really technical matters aside,” he said.

Williams, who was a prosecutor at the ODPP during Andrade’s tenure, said his former boss would “regularly” argue cases before the JCPC, along with Pantry, enabling them to highlight unique cultural issues that arise.

“It is not as easy for an overseas lawyer to be as au fait with those issues. It is retrograde,” he insisted.

But the Government insider explained that although Andrade and Pantry appeared before the apex court, “it does not mean that counsel up there was not with them and was not doing the bulk of the work”.

Further, the insider said Jamaica, through various agencies, has been utilising the services of the law firm of Charles Russell Speechlys for nearly 40 years.

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