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Call for 80pc of legal posts to be localised

LOCAL Crown counsel have proposed that 80 per cent of jobs at all levels in the Legal Department should be localised by 1995.

The call came as an internal working group began to review two schemes intended to groom local staff for senior posts, including directorate grades.

The two programmes - the Development Posts Scheme (DPS) and the Double Ladder Scheme (DLS) - were introduced to achieve the targets of localising 30 per cent of directorate and 50 per cent of senior Crown counsel posts by 1992.

The target for senior Crown counsel was reached in August last year, but the Local Crown Counsel Association yesterday expressed disappointment that the DPS had failed to meet the target for the directorates - of which 18.9 per cent were local.

Under the DPS, which was introduced in 1991, local senior Crown counsel can compete with their expatriate counterparts for promotion after a two-year training course.

In a submission made to the working group, the association said that other measures should be considered to increase the promotion opportunities for locals.

One proposal is to create a new assistant principal Crown counsel post under the DPS to allow local senior Crown counsel to gain experience in managerial skills.

As for the DLS, the association said the scheme had been effective in retaining local Crown counsel and should therefore continue.

Implemented in 1988, it allows local Crown counsel who would not otherwise be considered to be given earlier promotion.

The association also criticised the department for not making any attempt to set a timetable for implementing its localisation policy beyond 1992.

It proposed a target of 80 per cent localisation at all levels by 1995 should be set.

A spokesman for the department said the working group had received the submission and would consider the association's views.

The working group would look into the progress of the two schemes to decide if they should continue, he said.

The review was expected to be completed before July, and should it be decided that the two schemes are to continue, the department would have to seek funds by the end of this year, he said.

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