As Trinidad and Tobago moves forward with a planned expansion of criminal courts to cut through a massive backlog of pending cases, a top regional security expert is sounding the alarm that crippling staffing constraints at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) puts both the nation’s justice system and overall national security at severe risk.
Details of the staffing crisis first emerged over the weekend, when the Sunday Express reported that the ODPP has formally confirmed it cannot allocate prosecutors to the newly added court seats, despite the judiciary’s push to expand the High Court’s Criminal Division to tackle the growing backlog that has delayed justice for years. In a formal correspondence dated April 30 addressed to Kimberly Prescott, acting Registrar of the Supreme Court, ODPP Director Roger Gaspard, SC, made clear that the office lacks the prosecutorial workforce to support three to four additional High Court judges that were scheduled to begin hearing backlogged cases starting in early May.
Speaking exclusively to the Express over the weekend, regional security consultant Dr. Garvin Heerah explained that the new court initiative was meant to be a landmark intervention to address rising crime, widespread criminal impunity, long-standing justice delays, and plummeting public trust in the country’s justice institutions. He emphasized that speeding up case prosecution, reducing judicial turnaround times, and strengthening the pathway to successful convictions are non-negotiable steps to rebuild public confidence in the rule of law across the twin-island nation.
While Heerah commended the Trinidad and Tobago government for taking the critical step of expanding court capacity, he stressed that the operational and human infrastructure supporting the reform effort must also be upgraded to match. “Courts that operate without enough prosecutors, legal researchers, administrative support staff, digital case management systems, coordinated witness support, and dedicated security resources will never deliver on the promised outcomes,” Heerah argued. He added that meaningful justice reform depends on aligned investments in personnel, operational readiness, and strategic resource allocation, not just investments in physical court infrastructure.
To address the growing gap between prosecutorial demand and available capacity, Heerah has called for urgent, targeted action. His proposed solutions include accelerated recruitment drives for new prosecutorial staff, temporary secondment programs to bring in additional prosecutorial support, targeted hiring for specialized legal roles, investment in improved case preparation protocols, and modernization of outdated operational systems.
Beyond the immediate staffing crunch, Heerah also raised urgent alarms about operational security gaps for high-stakes cases, including prosecutions involving transnational organized crime, gang violence, public corruption, and intelligence-linked criminal activity. He noted that expanding the volume of court and prosecutorial work will increase the exposure of prosecutors, witnesses, investigators, digital evidence systems, and judicial officers to violent threats, intimidation campaigns, information leaks, and outside interference from criminal networks.
“Proper Operations Security (OPSEC) protocols have to be built into the reform framework from the very start, not added as an afterthought once risks emerge,” Heerah said. He outlined key security measures that should be implemented immediately, including encrypted secure communication systems, controlled protocols for handling sensitive case documents, enhanced protection for digital evidence, restricted access to sensitive prosecutorial workspaces, improved intelligence coordination with security agencies, regular proactive threat assessments, strengthened support for witness protection programs, and upgraded physical security for both prosecutorial offices and court facilities.
Heerah concluded that the long-term success of the court expansion initiative will hinge on whether the government grows prosecutorial capacity, personnel numbers, operational systems, and security infrastructure in lockstep with the broader justice reform agenda. “This is a defining moment for criminal justice reform in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “If we want to make real, lasting progress in the fight against serious crime, we have to approach this reform with strategic coordination, urgent action, and a focus on long-term sustainability.”
Gaspard’s letter laid bare just how severe the staffing crisis has become over the past three years. He explained that the crisis has deepened after three deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions and two assistant deputy DPPs were promoted to judicial positions, leaving all deputy DPP roles completely vacant and only half of all assistant DPP posts filled. While recruitment falls under the purview of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and the Office of the Attorney General, Gaspard noted that new appointments are still pending, and even newly hired prosecutors will require months of extensive training before they are qualified to handle complex serious criminal cases.
Currently, Gaspard added, prosecutors already assigned outside of the Assize courts carry extremely heavy caseloads across district courts, children’s courts, masters’ courts, and bail courts, with each prosecuting attorney managing more than 70 active matters at any given time. He warned that shuffling already overstretched personnel to the new High Court seats would inevitably erode both the quality and timeliness of prosecutorial work across all other court levels, creating new delays even as the government tries to solve existing backlogs.
