British donate books to law library
The Belizean legal community received a much-needed donation this morning, courtesy of the British Government. The U.K.’s High Commissioner to Belize, Phillip Priestly, officially handed over part of the shipment of law books to Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh during brief ceremonies at the Law Library in Belize City. The books cover topics like family law and criminal law, and include legal dictionaries and law reports. According to the C.J., the acquisition highlights the legal system’s constant need for upgrading.
Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice of Belize
“We need more resources. I keep saying, I cannot stop harping on this, more resources. Unfortunately, the administration of justice is done on the cheap, but it needs resources. And it is also an income-generating sector of the state because of fines and other imports that are imposed at the end of a judicial exercise. But unfortunately the people in the Treasury do not think the people in the judiciary desires or ought to get all that it is asking for and resources would underpin the independence of the judiciary, so that we can fearlessly, without fear or favour of financial rewards or returns that administrators of justice are sworn to do.”
The books handed over today are the portion of the consignment that has arrived in the country so far. In all, the total donation is estimated to be worth some fifteen thousand dollars.
