Solicitor general becomes new public prosecutor
(CNS): The solicitor general, Cheryll Richards QC, has been appointed the Cayman Islands’ first ever Director of Public Prosecutions by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC). Richards takes up the post on 1 May, which will herald in the separation of criminal prosecution from the civil side of the existing legal department. In the new constitution, the director of public prosecutions will be the responsible for instituting, continuing or discontinuing public prosecutions on behalf of government. The DPP will be independent and not be under the control of any other authority and Richards will be a chief officer in her own right.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Portfolio of Legal Affairs will be split between criminal and civil matters by 1 November this year and the two departments will be in separate accommodation. The role of the attorney general and the solicitor general will change as a result of this appointment. However, the attorney general will continue to speak on all legal affairs in Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly.
Richards was appointed after an open recruitment process after the post was advertised locally and overseas. Following an initial short-listing process, the deputy governor chaired an interview panel, which comprised three members of the JLSC and the acting chief officer for the Portfolio of the Civil Service.
According to a release from the Governor’s Office, four people were interviewed, two of whom were local candidates. Following the interviews, the recruitment panel was unanimous in its view that Richards was clearly the strongest candidate.
Richards has twenty-five years experience as a prosecutor, appearing before all tiers of courts. She joined the staff of the Cayman Islands Attorney General’s Chambers as a prosecutor in 1996.
In 2005 she was appointed as the solicitor general and was the chief officer at legal services, which included the law school, criminal and civil division and legal drafting. Richards was appointed Queens Counsel in November 2009.
Category: Local News
Congrats Cheryl, we went to high school together and even then you stood for justice
Well Done Ms. Richards!!! I know you are thoroughly deserving of this role and will do an exceptional job.
Keep up the good work!
The Cayman Islands are fortunate to have such a decent, hard working, thoroughly accomplished woman appointed to this important post. May she continue to protect all individuals residing there through her diligent work in assisting to keep dangerous people behind bars.
Well deserved. You hard work (7 days per week), humility and honesty paid off. Keep up the good work.
i have a feeling its only one person applying all these thumbs down..you know who you are!
A thoroughly deserved appointment. I have worked with Ms Richards too. She is extremely hard-working, an outstanding prosecutor and a credit to her profession.
Congratulations!!! Well Deserved Ms. Richards – You Played a great role in molding my daughter – God Bless you.
From Nathania’s Mom –
Congradulations to Ms. Cheryll Richards QC on her new appointment as our new and first Director of Public Prosecutions. I’ve had the great opportunity to work with Ms. Richards for a number of years when I was a senior police officer in the RCIPS. I can state without reservation, that she is extremely committed to seek justice for all citizens of these Cayman Islands.
She is very intelligent, extremely hard working and is most capable of this new appointment. No one in my opinion is more deserving than yourself as our new DPP in the Cayman Islands.
What a pile of Hog wash!
She reports to someone is it the governor?
You would had to be negative – and the best part of it – it gets you no where.
Congrats Ms Richards- you have worked hard to prosecute the most serious criminals and you track record of putting them behind bars is very good. I recall how skillfully you prosecuted Estella’s killers and got them the life sentence they deserved.
I know you will continue to do a great job for all of us in Cayman.
Congratulations, Ms. Richards. Well deserved.
Another waste of time and money for the sake of pretending that efficiencies are being found within the system.