JPs seek to raise standards
They are a familiar fixture of the Belizean legal system, and although there are currently over fifteen hundred Justices of the Peace in the country, at times it still seems that you can’t find one when you need one. But the Association of JPs and Commissioners of the Supreme Court is looking to change all that. According to national president Adrian “Danny” Madrid, since December of last year his organisation has been working to build up the status of the JPs and restore credibility to a tarnished institution.
Danny Madrid, President, J.P. Association
“We want to find people who are qualified, not only qualified but who want to do it. So if I should call you and ask if you want to be a JP, and you say yes and you accept it, and then you don’t do anything, we don’t want that.”
“It’s very important to have training for JPs because a lot of time JPs get themselves into trouble, and why is because they are not acquainted with the book, they are not acquainted with the laws. Whenever you are appointed a JP, you go and you swear your oath of allegiance and that’s it, and you are being handed a book that you have to read and then you don’t know anything.”
Madrid says work is progressing rapidly on the establishment of a national JPs Directory, as well as a logo that will reflect the association’s objectives.
But while the Association is working to clean up their image, the stench of J.P. involvement in last year’s passport scandal continues to linger. The Chief Justice has since revoked the appointment of Max Santos as a Justice of the Peace, making him only the second person to be kicked out of the post. But the other man whose signature appeared on a number of documents relating to the same scandal, Rudolph Thimbriel, continues to enjoy full privileges. Madrid says the power to discipline its members has not yet been vested in the Association, but they are working towards it.
Adrian “Danny” Madrid
“This association does not have the authority to do that now. This is why we are putting, we are organizing ourselves so that when we are finished we can present a paper to the Ministry of the Attorney General and say these are the guidelines that we would like to work with, with your approval. And that includes disciplinary actions against JPs that would do something like that, and which we refer to it as a code of conduct. And we will also be suggesting to the Ministry that instead of appointing you a Justice of the Peace for life, it’s something that you have to renew, maybe like a driver’s license, maybe every five years, four years, or whatever we decide. And what we do is that we try to vet the persons, get their qualifications, education, and before they are appointed you let them know that they have to attend the seminars and they have to do their work. It’s getting interesting because now people are applying to us to be a Justice of the Peace and that’s good because that shows that that person wants to help his community.”
Madrid says that a draft code of conduct for JPs will shortly be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Ministry for consideration. The Association of Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of the Supreme Court meets every second Wednesday of the month. The association is working on setting up its national office in a space allotted by the Belize City Council on the third floor of the commercial centre.
