Staff shortages and poor morale within the Department of Public Prosecutions have been successfully addressed in recent months, according to its director Rory Field.

In addition, said Mr. Field, Bermudian lawyers are being encouraged to reach top-level positions and staff are benefiting from increased training opportunities. He inherited an office which, he acknowledged as he took on the job last September, was not a happy environment.

His predecessor, Vinette Graham-Allen, from Jamaica, had a troubled three years in the top post. A hard-hitting Government report in 2005 recommending buying her out of her contract and replacing her with a Bermudian.

The Department of Management Services report also featured highly negative feedback from employees within the department, who complained of alleged favouritism in a department riven with division and periodic leaks to the media.

Two Principal Crown Counsels from Australia both quit within 48 hours of their arrival and no suitable Bermudian Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was deemed to be available when Mrs. Graham-Allen departed — despite her being contractually obliged to groom one for the post.

However, according to Mr. Field, who hails from the UK, things have now changed for the better.

"I'm very grateful to the staff here for all of the support they've given me in the ten months or so that I've been here.

"I've been most impressed by their high level of professionalism. It's a very positive thing to say about the office that nobody's left since I've been here," he said.

"My feeling is that the general morale is up and the working environment is a more pleasant place, where people can be serious about their work and also want to come in in the morning."

Michael McColm arrived from Australia in March to fill the long-vacant Principal Crown counsel post, and now works under the title of Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.

Another highly-qualified lawyer, Brett Webber, arrived from Canada last week.

Mr. Field estimates the pair have 50 years of courtroom experience between them, with Mr. Webber bringing specialist knowledge of environmental prosecutions.

Those areas are something Mr. Field hopes there will be increased focus on in the future to protect the beauty of Bermuda for future generations.

At the other end of the scale, a "very promising" female Bermudian pupil barrister has been taken on, he said, who should become a junior Crown counsel once she finishes her training.

Although there is currently a 50/50 split between Bermudians and expatriates lawyers, Mr, Field hopes to recruit more Bermudians and promote those already working for the department to higher positions.

"A nice example of the progress of Bermudians is that last week one of the Crown counsel junior grade (Nicole Smith) did her first Supreme Court, that of Rashad Cooper.

"It was described as a hate crime against homosexuals and Mr. Cooper received a seven year prison sentence.

"That's an example of one of the Bermudian counsel coming up, taking on more responsibility, doing something difficult and succeeding in it," he noted.

In addition, training opportunities in recent months have seen lawyers from the department complete courses in homicide and gang crime, domestic violence, intellectual property law and alternatives to incarceration.