A damning report into the standard of prosecutions in the Attorney General’s chambers was never made public, it has emerged.
An executive summary of the independent review of the structure and processess of the AG’s chambers by respected UK lawyer Stephen Wooler was circulated only to Tynwald members at the end of last year – but even they never saw the full report.
Existence of the report only came to light during House of Keys question time when Peter Karran (Lib Van, Onchan) asked what progress had been made in implementing its recommendations.
Chief Minister Allan Bell said substantive progress had been made. He explained that Mr Wooler was invited back to the island last month to assess progress and the effectiveness of the steps taken.
Copies of his detailed report, once completed, will be provided to Tynwald members, he added.
Douglas North MHK John Houghton has long demanded action following concerns that cases before the summary courts are being delayed or withdrawn at the 11th hour.
He claimed the Attorney General’s chambers were ‘badly organised’ – and victims, witnesses and defendants were all losing out.
But in January last year, he withdrew a Tynwald question about ‘diminished standards’ of prosecutions following reassurances from the Chief Minister.
In the Keys this week, he claimed nothing has changed since the report – and that poor and failed prosecutions continue to happen ‘time and time again’.
Mr Houghton added: ‘This is harming the integrity of those lawyers in the Attorney General’s Chambers who are hardworking and are being besmirched by those who are clearly not.’
Mr Karran told the Manx Independent: ‘The report was quite damning. The decision was taken not to make it available. Even we only saw an executive summary. They do themselves a disservice by hiding behind confidentiality.’