Parish court clerks resume environmental prosecutions after ODPP withdrawal

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is no longer handling environmental offences at the parish court level and has sent those files back to clerks of court, including trials already under way.

The change came to light on Thursday in the St Catherine Parish Court, where bauxite operator UC Rusal, which does business as Windalco, faces prosecution over pollution linked to the Rio Cobre.

Parish Court Judge Genetta Smikle told the court that the ODPP pointed to administrative difficulties as the reason for pulling back from parish-level environmental work. "We are unable to proceed as the ODPP has expressed that there are administrative challenges, so the changes are current and the parish court clerks are now responsible for the prosecutions," Smikle said. She said the arrangement covers fresh matters as well as cases already part heard. "We were under the impression that it was for new cases, but it is for all such matters," the judge said.

Attorney-at-law Stephanie Ewbank, who appeared for Windalco, said counsel had not been fully briefed. "We had brief information, but it is the first that we are knowing about this change," she told the court.

The ODPP had taken on environmental prosecutions at parish courts after then-Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn announced the policy on January 28, 2025. That decision followed public criticism of how such cases were managed locally, including fallout from a disputed matter involving Trade Winds Citrus Limited.

The Windalco prosecution arises from an August 2022 episode in which the National Environment and Planning Agency charged the firm under the Wildlife Protection Act. The case relates to a large fish kill and reported harm to the environment, which authorities linked to effluent from a storage pond that entered the Rio Cobre.

The court has set August 18, 2026, for the first witness to resume giving evidence.