Franz Parke Close to Appointment as Appeal Judge; Did Classmate P.M. Help Him Out?

Franz Parke

The Governor General has received the instrument of appointment for Jamaican-American attorney Franz Parke to the Belize Court of Appeal for a five-year term beginning in October.  Parke was previously nominated in 2015 and from what we know; he sat on one case only to concur with the ruling of the court.  Prime Minister Dean Barrow made the nomination, but appears to be going over the heads of Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, who he must legally consult, and the Bar Association and other active social partners, who have rejected Parke as unsuitable for office. But why is Parke being appointed to the Belize Court of Appeal? One suspicion is that he is a friend of P.M. Barrow.  News Five has received a notice that lists Parke and Barrow, along with another former nominee to the Court of Appeal, Murrio Ducille, as classmates in the 1975 graduating class of Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. Parke has no judicial experience or legal experience since 1980 in the Caribbean or Commonwealth. Records show that he served five years in Jamaica’s court system as a prosecutor before moving to Florida, where he took up work in accounting and real estate sandwiched around stints in the county prosecution office before acting exclusively in private practice since 2002. Nonetheless, he is expected to be confirmed and sworn in before the Court of Appeal’s October session.  One senior attorney, Eamon Courtenay, has already said he intends to challenge Parke if any of his clients appear in the Court in the future.