Regional security consultant Dr Garvin Heerah has warned that staffing constraints within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions pose a serious risk to both national security and the justice system, particularly as Trinidad and Tobago prepares to roll out additional criminal courts aimed at easing the backlog of cases.Yesterday, the Sunday Express reported that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said it was unable to assign prosecutors to additional criminal courts due to severe staffing shortages, despite the judiciary’s expansion of the High Court’s Criminal Division to tackle a growing backlog of cases.In a letter dated April 30 to acting Registrar of the Supreme Court Kimberly Prescott, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, said the Office did not have the prosecutorial capacity to support three or four additional High Court judges expected to begin hearing backlog matters from early May.Speaking with the Express yesterday, Heerah said the establishment of additional courts represents a major intervention in addressing crime, criminal impunity, delayed justice, and declining public confidence in the justice system.He said accelerating prosecutions, improving judicial turnaround times, and strengthening conviction pathways are necessary to restore confidence in the rule of law.Heerah stated that while the expansion of the court system was a significant step by the State, the operational infrastructure supporting the initiative also needed to be strengthened.“Courts without sufficient prosecutors, legal researchers, administrative support personnel, digital case management systems, witness coordination mechanisms, and security resources will inevitably struggle to achieve the intended impact,” he said.He added that justice reform required synchronized manpower, operational readiness and strategic resource deployment, and could not rely solely on physical infrastructure.Heerah called for immediate measures to address the anticipated increase in prosecutorial demand. These included accelerated recruitment, temporary prosecutorial support mechanisms, specialized legal staffing, improved case preparation capabilities and modernised operational systems.He also raised concerns about operational security in relation to high-profile prosecutions, organized crime matters, gang-related cases, corruption investigations and intelligence-linked matters.According to Heerah, the expansion of the court and prosecutorial process would increase the exposure of prosecutors, witnesses, investigators, digital evidence systems and judicial officers to threats, intimidation attempts, information leaks and external interference.“Proper OPSEC (Operations Security) practices must therefore be embedded into the framework from inception and not treated as an afterthought,” he said.Heerah said operational security measures should include secure communication systems, protected document handling, digital evidence security, controlled access environments, intelligence coordination, threat assessments, witness protection support and enhanced physical security protocols for prosecutorial operations and court facilities.He said the success of the expanded court initiative would depend on whether prosecutorial capacity, manpower, operational systems and security architecture developed alongside the broader reform agenda.“This is a defining moment for criminal justice reform in Trinidad and Tobago, and it must be approached with strategic coordination, urgency, and sustainability if the country is to truly gain ground in the fight against serious crime,” Heerah said.In Gaspard’s letter, he noted the staffing crisis had worsened over the past three years following the promotion of three deputy DPPs and two assistant DPPs to the Judiciary, leaving all deputy DPP positions vacant and only half of the assistant DPP posts filled. While recruitment efforts were under the responsibility of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and the Office of the Attorney General, he said appointments remained uncertain and newly recruited prosecutors would still require extensive training before handling serious criminal matters.He stated that prosecutors already assigned outside the Assize courts were managing heavy workloads across district courts, children’s courts, masters’ courts and bail courts, with each attorney handling more than 70 matters. Gaspard warned that redistributing limited personnel to additional High Court courts would reduce the quality and timeliness of prosecutions.