JUST under 100 police constables who took legal action over the promotion exercise fiasco in 2023 must be compensated for their distress over a move to modify the performance appraisal criteria used for promotions.
Justice Westmin James made the order in a ruling against the Police Commissioner and the Promotions Advisory Board (PAB) on October 29.
The officers challenged a departmental order issued by the Office of the Police Commissioner on August 4, 2023, and the failure of the PAB to sit and consider promotions every three months.
They contended they had a legitimate expectation that they would be assessed on previous criteria for performance appraisals, which existed when they successfully wrote promotion examinations.
They also contended that the board’s delay in performing its duties hampered their chances of being promoted as they had to compete with a substantially larger pool of applicants for a small number of vacancies.
They sought declarations that the policy change was illegal, irrational, procedurally improper, and void and another declaring that there had been undue delay by the board.
James granted those declarations. He also ordered the PAB to compile and submit to the commissioner a revised order of merit list using the proper criteria to reflect the officers’ proper ranking in three months.
James said the list must be published in a department order so the officers can be properly ranked for when there are other vacancies in the police service.
In his ruling, James said the amendment undermined the officers’ legitimate expectations.
[caption id="attachment_1093324" align="alignnone" width="214"] Justice Westmin James -[/caption]
“The principle of fairness dictates that procedural rules should remain consistent throughout an assessment process…”
He added, “The use of disputed criteria in Departmental Order 93 of years of service was wrongful in the first place…Years of service relate primarily to seniority, not to an officer's actual performance in their role.
“Seniority reflects the length of time an officer has served but does not necessarily indicate their level of competence or effectiveness in their duties during the assessment period.
“Performance appraisals, on the other hand, are designed to evaluate an officer's work over a specific time frame, focusing on their skills, achievements, and overall contribution during that period.”
He said by assigning points for years of service, the commissioner and the PAB “conflated seniority with performance.”
“This procedural breach further compromised their fair opportunity for advancement, making the delay not only unreasonable but also legally flawed,” he added.
James also said the 14-year delay in calling the officers for their final interviews was “clearly unreasonable and unjustifiable.”
In their lawsuit, the officers complained a large number of them completed the promotions examinations as far back as 2011, but they had never been assessed by the PAB nor had they been included on the order of merit list. Oth
