Attorney General, Reginald Armour presented the final report of an investigative team tasked with examining the case of Shervon Peters versus The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago.
In early 2023 AG Armour said because of the “missing file” the State failed to file a defence in the matter.
In February 2023, the Attorney General appointed retired Justice of Appeal Stanley John and former Special Branch Head Pamela Schullera-Hinds to investigate.
Their thorough report, submitted in June 2023, provided recommendations to improve the delivery of legal services.
AG Armour shared why he chose to wait until the passage of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Judicial and Legal Service) Act, 2024 (Act No. 14 of 2024), before the report is made public.
“I chose deliberately not to make this report public. There are disclosures in there which impact individuals. Flowing from this, there emerged legal correspondence with the investigative team, which team had caused a Salmon letter correspondence to be issued. It was my grave concern that, had this report been made public before now, my office may have become embroiled in litigation with the potential, negatively, to impact what I consider to be the preeminent public interest consideration.”
The Attorney General emphasized that the implementation of reforms has begun, led by retired Court Executive Administrator Master Christie Ann Morris-Alleyne.
“With the Registrar General and the Registrar General’s Department, in respect of the addition of the children’s attorneys to the Civil Law Department, and with the control of the Intellectual Property Office, greatly assisted by the change managers and interlocutors who were made available to us by the Judicial Education Institute of the judiciary, the necessary change process, training and commitment to mission and purpose is now already underway.”