In the final analysis, it is the luminaries of the legal system who will pass judgement on whether Miss Paula Llewellyn’s service as director of public prosecutions (DPP) between 2008 and tomorrow has left the Jamaican justice system in a better place than how she found it.

For our part, in this space, we can easily, from now, agree with those who believe that she was a fearless and passionate advocate who gave service above self in the public interest to her fellow citizens and who was committed to facilitating the professional growth of her colleagues.

For such reason, we regard Ms Llewellyn’s departure as bittersweet. We feel a sense that her work in helping to fashion a justice system that is yet more capable of convincing our people that there is no more need to take justice into their own hands, has not been completed.

For example, as Jamaica wrestles with the decision to accept the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of justice (CCJ), the class and courage of a Paula Llewellyn could not be more essential.

And, as an inspired Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) continues to bring crime, especially murders, to more manageable levels, her prosecutorial prowess remains critical, if the progress is to be sustained.

Surely, there can’t be any doubters who have not seen how effective she has been in taking the public into her confidence and by that means educate, as never before, an understanding and enlightenment of things legal.

Of course, after over four decades as a prosecutor — 17 years in the seat of the director of public prosecutions — Ms Llewellyn deserves any rest she gets. This is not a woman who has ever allowed herself to rest on her laurels, considerable as that has been.

But it is obvious to us that, with such a formidable resume, and given her energy, she is more than capable of engaging in other projects which can give her an opportunity to give public service in other fora.

There is much that can be said of the departing DPP, based on pure observations.

She has been a leader who made no apology for leading from the front and who, throughout the difficult decisions that had to be made, acted at all times in good faith in service to Jamaica, giving the best of herself to all, while never forgetting that one’s reputation is one’s greatest non-depreciating asset.

Ms Llewellyn, from the beginning of her career, has been accustomed to being assigned, or having to deal with, many of the toughest cases, working in the midst of men, some of whom saw her gender as a weakness, until embarrassingly proven otherwise.

That pressured her to ensure at all times that competence and capacity were hallmarks of her practice, being judged twice as hard by her male colleagues, the typical defence counsel, and then as the eighth DPP, only the first woman in the job.

Yet, she had never shown any negative perceptions attendant on her role as DPP, but instead sought gracefully to play the hand she was dealt in the various professional situations, conscious of her duty as a public servant who was called to give service above self.

The impact of this trailblazer on the Office of DPP is likely to determine how soon another woman occupies that space.

But the immediate question is how, in time, will men speak her name, and what verdict history will ultimately pass on Paula Vanessa Llewellyn?