Under the new constitution, the director of public prosecutions will be the public officer responsible for instituting, continuing or discontinuing public prosecutions on behalf of government.

The DPP will be totally independent and will not be under the control of any other person or authority and 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 and by 1st November, 2011, it is anticipated that each portfolio will be accommodated separately.

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 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 solicitor general and was chief officer responsible for the Portfolio of Legal Services, which included the Law School, criminal and civil division and legal drafting. Richards was appointed Queens Counsel in November 2009.

(This article was written with content incorporated from a Caribbeannewsnow press release).