Bermuda's new chief prosecutor has pledged to build respect for the Department of Public Prosecutions and boost its international links.

Director of the Department Rory Field only arrived on the Island a month ago, but is already putting plans in place to address staff shortages and morale issues, and improve training opportunities.

The 48-year-old, from the UK, told The Royal Gazette:"I want to build up the office so that it's a respected institution within the criminal justice system and also one which is viewed as being fair and professional, and one that Bermudians want to join and stay in as well. In order to do that I think one has to have a good morale within the office itself. It has to be a happy working environment... it's also got to offer lawyers and administrative staff career progression and the opportunity to improve themselves, so they feel they're going forward."

Along with overseeing prosecutions — and personally handling key cases before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal &38212; Mr. Field's role involves advising the Police and other Government departments and assisting with law reform. However, legal insiders speculated when his appointment was first announced that he may find restoring good relations in his own office one of his biggest challenges.

The last Director of Public Prosecutions, Vinette Graham-Allen, was appointed in May 2004 by the Governor. A condition of her three-year contract was that she identified and trained a suitable Bermudian as a potential successor. However, Mrs. Graham-Allen, a Jamaican national, had a bumpy ride with a hard-hitting report in 2005 recommending buying her out of her contract and replacing her with a Bermudian. The report, by the Government Department of Management Services, saw her employees criticise her for an "autocratic" management style and complain of alleged favouritism in a department reportedly riven with division and periodic unrest.

Mr. Field took over the reins from Bermudian temporary DPP Juan Wolffe on September 5, Mr. Wolffe having stepped in when Mrs. Graham Allan's contract ended in July. He has since returned to his former post as a Magistrate. Quizzed about whether he has received negative feedback regarding the fact he is a non-Bermudian appointment, Mr. Field told The Royal Gazette there has been "none at all" and described the current atmosphere within the office as seeming "quite good".

He explained:"I would like to think that there's been a break for a couple of months under Mr. Wolffe, and now I've come in as the new DPPand everybody is starting with a fresh sheet of paper. I'm aware of what happened in the past, but I think we're all going to start anew and hopefully create something which we're all proud of."

A Cambridge University graduate who has moved to Bermuda with his wife Sarah and 15-year-old son Charles, Mr. Field was selected by unanimous agreement from a pool of more than 50 applicants, according to Government House. Among his past appointments are that of Director of Public Prosecutions in Belize from 1999 to 2001. He also helped to build up the prosecution service in Serbia where he was legal adviser on organised crime for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. As primary advisor to the Serbian Chief Prosecutor, he focused on reform of the criminal justice system and capacity building.

He believes his past experience of taking a "holistic" approach to improving prosecution services will stand him in good stead with one of his key focuses in Bermuda being expanding training opportunities. He is keen on bringing in overseas trainers, and also sending staff abroad for attachments to learn skills relating to complex areas of crime such as money laundering, computer crime, environmental crime and copyright issues.

"That skill development should be linked with an increased internationalisation in the outlook that prosecutors have about crime, because although things like burglary and street muggings and things of that sort are obviously domestic there are also many forms of criminality that have an international perspective, like money laundering," he said. "This office needs good links with other offices outside, and indeed has a responsibility to assist other offices outside. We need a two-way international relationship."

Within Bermuda, he hopes to forge tighter links with other institutions within the criminal justice system, such as offering joint training with the Police and Customs. However, he acknowledged that in order to achieve all of this, it will be necessary to boost staff levels within the department. The second-in-command position of Principal Crown Counsel remains vacant after the last two occupants quit within 48 hours of arrival during Mrs. Graham-Allen's time. The department also lacks several Crown Counsels. Mr. Field said these shortages are currently being addressed, with a new Principal Crown Counsel from overseas having been earmarked.

"They're not here yet but the interviewing is at an end and someone either should be or has signed a contract," he explained. Meanwhile he is hopeful that a Bermudian previously in the post of Junior Crown Counsel will return to it, and he is expecting a Crown Counsel from the Caribbean to join the department. Interviews for two other Crown Counsel positions have been set up.

"I would like to hope that by the new year we might have three or four extra lawyers in the department, then we can be more pro-active and imaginative in what we do. As opposed to simply reviewing files and going to court, we'll be able to do more training. That includes having senior counsel from these chambers perhaps going to do some training for Police officers or for people starting off in the Customs service," he said.

He hopes that making the department a more attractive place to work will lure more local staff.

"I want to attract in the Bermudians at the beginning and try to keep them longer than they have stayed up until now. I would also like to see Bermudians in more senior roles in this department, and eventually a Bermudian Director of Public Prosecutions," he said.

Mr. Field also hopes to raise the profile of the department.

"One of the things I'm going to do is put a little more information out into the general public as a whole as to why the prosecution makes certain decisions and what the role of the prosecution is within the criminal justice system. We'll develop our website with more information not case specific information but information about what it is the prosecution service is trying to do," he said.

In comparison to his previous postings, Bermuda does not have the same levels of crime. "My impression is that it is a very sophisticated location, in fact a rather special and beautiful place with many extremely positive qualities," he said. However, he acknowledged recent serious crimes including the unsolved murders of Jason Lightbourne and Shaki Crockwell have rocked the tightly-knit community. Pledging to improve witness support and protection in the hope of helping crack such cases, he said:"It's important to nip a drift toward criminality in the bud. That's the importance of witness support. It's not just the responsibility of the Police and prosecution but of civil society to make it clear criminality is an unacceptable way of living one's life."