Jamaica’s longest serving Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn King’s Counsel, in her swansong before the island’s Supreme Court on Tuesday described her tenure as the “privilege” of her life while urging her successor, who is yet to be named, to “keep focused… love the work… and keep on enhancing the operational efficiencies of the office”.

Llewellyn, who has spent four-plus decades as a respected advocate — 17 as the island’s chief prosecutor — will on Friday demit office.

“Today marks the final time in my 41-year career as a prosecutor that I will be opening the Circuit Court in any part of the island of Jamaica… It has been a long journey and… I would simply say that it has been the privilege of my life to have been able to live my passion every day for 41 years in giving public service and also enjoying being an advocate, dealing with the positives and negatives of leadership, building a first-class office where we have a lot of units and also working with and seeing the development of so many fine prosecutors who have either gone on the bench or gone to other prosecuting agencies across the Caribbean,” she said.

In an address marked with her signature smile and dramatic flair, evoking chuckles and smiles from those in attendance, the legal stalwart reminisced on her experiences at the Bar where she appeared over the last 35 years against legal luminaries and senior members of the defence Bar under the watchful eyes of noted judges and former chief justices.

“You know, mi’lord, sometimes I feel like Methuselah. I have done some great cases against a litany of legal luminaries. It has been indeed a privilege and a pleasure,” a smiling Llewellyn said, noting that “within a few years of becoming DPP” she led her team in martialing the extradition of convicted drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke to the United States.

“That alone could fill a book, and the rest is history,” she noted.

The outgoing DPP, in the meantime, thanked the Jamaican public for its continued support, stating, “I have always appreciated, that support, the prayers; especially when the slings and arrows have come at me, the public have never left my side in terms of giving me support”.

In paying homage to the prosecutors she has worked with over the years and other individuals across the judiciary, Llewellyn said the lessons learnt at the knees of her main mentor in the law, retired Senior Puisne Judge Marva McIntosh, were worth passing on.

“I was a young prosecutor, she was my senior… she took me under her hands and she literally sandpapered me down because, Mi’lord, I was all energy, lacking discipline and I loved to talk and articulate but she taught me so much about the traditions of the Bar and what it takes to be an excellent prosecutor,” she said, noting that McIntosh had also encouraged her to pay great respect to the police and the media, instructions which she adhered to faithfully.

“Dare I say that there is only one PVL,” she said almost mischievously in her parting shot, evoking laughter.

Defence attorney Peter Champagnie, King’s Counsel labelled the moment “bittersweet” and described Llewellyn as a “visionary leader”.

“Ms Llewellyn is perhaps,if not the most consequential female attorney at the Bar, I say that without hesitation,” he declared.

Noting that Llewellyn was the one to call him to the Inner Bar, Champagnie said it was hoped that her successor would continue the openness, transparency, and relationship with the media which she fostered.

Meanwhile, Justice Leighton Pusey, who presided over the opening, said Llewellyn “has been an outstanding advocate and somebody who has moved the craft in terms of the legal profession by leaps and bounds”.

“The first case I observed her in, I was a recent graduate, a clerk, and she was prosecuting a family. The matter went all the way to Court of Appeal. As a young student, just out of law school, I was very impressed with this advocate who was able to have the jury basically eating out of her hand in terms of not just the drama which we all know and all see, but also the ability to use the law in a particular way to get to the relevant points. I say this because there are many who are so involved in the drama and those things that they forget the law, and then there are some who are so involved in the law that they forget that they are dealing with jurors and persons who they need to reach,” Justice Pusey stated.

“Miss Llewellyn has encapsulated both of those skills and put them together in her own remarkable way. She has also been known as an advocate for the victims of crime… she treats them and protects them like her own family. Even if we have been harsh in court, or otherwise, when she sees you outside she still lights you up with that particular smile because it’s not personal. So therefore, we, the judiciary, recognise her, she is groundbreaking as our first female DPP, and she has been that outstanding lawyer that I am sure we will see more of her as we go along,” he declared.

Llewellyn became the first woman to act in the position in 1999. In 2003 she became the first female to be appointed senior deputy DPP. She was appointed DPP in March 2008. Unlike previous DPPs, who had been appointed simply on the recommendation of the prime minister, she had to apply through a competitive selection process administered by the Public Service Commission.

Llewellyn, who has stared down death threats to a court-waged war to unceremoniously thrust her from office, had resumed duties in January this year after being on hiatus from April last year following the ruling of an all-woman Full Court which held that while a 2023 amendment increasing the retirement age of the DPP from 60 to 65 is constitutional, a new provision introduced into the constitution via a second amendment giving the DPP the right to elect to remain in office is “not a valid section and is severed from the constitution”.

The ruling was the result of a lawsuit brought by the Opposition People’s National Party.

Following a swiftly filed appeal by the Government, the Appeal Court in December said it had determined that the incumbent DPP “automatically benefited” from the extension granted by the second amendment thereby clearing the way for Llewellyn to remain in her post until her 65th birthday this month.