President James Michel visited the Attorney General's Office this morning, accompanied by Vice President Danny Faure, as well as the Secretary of State for Cabinet Affairs and Head of the Civil Service, Mohammed Afif.

The President met with Attorney General, Ronny Govinden, and the staff working at the Office in order to discuss in detail the constraints faced by the Department of Legal Affairs, which also includes the Registrar's Office.

"The Legal Affairs department is key to the service delivery of the Government as well as the law reforms we are implementing. There are many constraints in this department and we need to put emphasis on providing the resources needed for delivery of services to the Seychellois people," said the President, who holds the portfolio for Legal Affairs.

The Attorney General said that there is a need to strengthen the links with the Police and the Judiciary that would help to overcome the problems which account for delays in cases being heard. Mr. Govinden also expressed his concern to the President that many law professionals had left the office in recent years and that expatriates had been recruited to replace them, as there was a serious human resource gap.

"It is not easy to attract Seychellois lawyers to work at the Attorney General's Office as there are so many opportunities for them in the private sector where the salary packages are higher, particularly with the expansion of business in the international finance sector. We need to find ways to improve the conditions and packages for the Office in order to attract and retain qualified Seychellois professionals," said Mr. Michel.

The Vice-President also commented that the visit had been very positive in order to assess the needs of the Legal Affairs department and that the scheme of service of the department would need to be revised in order to ensure that staff are retained.

" We will also look at the structure of the Registrar General's Office in order to make it more effective for the public and for the business community. This also needs to be complimented by further judicial reforms, being undertaken by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, so that the public has a better service in general ," said Vice-President Faure.

The President appointed a new Registrar General, Leslie Boniface, and a deputy Registrar General, Fred Hoareau, last Friday.