Khamisi Tokunbo is suing the Attorney General after it was announced his job as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will be advertised.

The Royal Gazette understands his lawyer Saul Froomkin will challenge the constitutionality of the Governor's decision not to automatically renew his contract.

Wednesday was the closing date for applications for the $127,000-a-year job three-year post.

Governor Sir John Vereker wants to ensure that the best possible candidate is chosen for the high profile role. Mr. Tokunbo's three-year contract ends at the start of March.

Last night, Mr. Tokunbo could not be reached for comment while Mr. Froomkin would only confirm a writ had been launched.

Deputy Governor Tim Gurney said he could not comment on the writ without seeing the details.

But last month he said the Governor believed that people in such senior posts should be tested against a potential peer group to see whether they remained the best person qualified for the job.

The Royal Gazette understands the Governor has consulted widely over the position of DPP and on whether or not Mr. Tokunbo's contract should have been automatically renewed or not.

Attorney General Dame Lois Browne-Evans, who has been working from home after breaking her ankle, said the Government will contest the case.

She said her office manager would bring her the papers and she would discuss the case with the Solicitor General Wihelm Bourne.

She said: "When I am in my office I will be able to find out what's going on and do something about it. I will consult and confer.

"It will be a most novel case. I can't say any more other than I am surprised by the behaviour of the people who appointed him because I remember the words of the last Governor.

"I guess no one thought to warn him that one Governor doesn't bind the other one.

"Before he followed. Who ever advised him it was not our department, that's a fact."

It's thought Mr. Tokunbo's lawyer will argue the only way Mr. Tokunbo can be not be re-appointed is if he is not carrying out his duties effectively or cannot carry on due to illness.

One legal source wondered what Mr. Tokunbo would gain out of the action because - should he win his case - it could create a bad atmosphere if he clung on where he wasn't wanted.

"No employer can be forced to associate with someone they don't want."

The source said that if Mr. Tokunbo won his action he would have to accept any post Government gave him which was equivalent in grade or else risk getting nothing.

The lawyer said: "At this stage of his life he should not be scrambling to keep hold of his job. They should be begging him to stay and offering more money.

"It indicates to me he should pull his socks up and win a few high profile cases."

The source said Mr. Tokunbo might argue that he hasn't been given sufficient notice of the threat to his job.

But the lawyer added: "You can't have your cake and eat it too. He took a risk and accepted the post which was a three-year post.

"The real question is perhaps whether or not he has been able to function efficiently or whether there was outside political interference."