Prosecutors look to improve skills
For the first time in recent memory Belizean lawyers, magistrates, members of the police department and other representatives of the justice system met under the theme, “Prosecution: The Way Forward”. The seminar’s main objectives were to promote collaboration between the different parts of the legal framework as well as to cultivate links with international partners. Present at this morning’s conference were the Directors of Public Prosecutions for Barbados and New South Wales in Australia.
Nicholas Cowdery, DPP, New South Wales, Australia
“My particular interest is from the human rights point of view. We’ve heard in the Attorney General’s opening speech this morning, the need for balance between control of crime and the preservation of the human rights of those who are caught up in the criminal justice system. It’s a difficult balance to strike very often and I hope that at least my small portion of today’s proceedings will provide some assistance to law enforcement officials in achieving that balance.”
Janelle Chanona
“Do you think that our problems are enough alike that we would be able to share those solutions across the board?”
Nicholas Cowdery
“Yes, as President of the International Association of Prosecutors, I deal with a lot of jurisdictions around the world, both common law jurisdictions and civil law systems as well. It is amazing to find just how similar the problems are. They are being faced in roughly similar ways and for today’s purposes of course, we have speakers from common law countries, countries who have inherited English common law and built on that in their own individual ways. Belize is one of those countries, and so we start from a common base. And I think that the procedures, the substantive law, the approaches that are taken in all those jurisdictions are sufficiently similar for us to learn a great deal from each other.”
Janelle Chanona
“I don’t know how much you’ve been told, but one thing happening here quite often, is public pressure forces the police to make an arrest to try to bring up a case against a particular individual, and then it flops in the court. Is that something that you will be addressing as well?”
Charles Leacock, DPP, Barbados
“Yes, that is maybe the ideal situation, why this seminar would be so useful, in that is seeks to address in particular, those who make prosecution decisions, how best they can enhance their abilities, efficiency and effectiveness in the entire process which stems from the charging of the individual. That is assessing the evidence, to taking the matter right though to court. We will talk about the basic standards you achieve, and it’s no longer a simple prima facie case for example, you look for much more evidence towards a realistic prospect for a conviction. And that is the kind of threshold you now aspire for in other Commonwealth countries. And I think that is why this seminar will be so apt to bring to light in Belize the other international experiences and standards we achieve, so that your system can be more efficient and more capable of delivering justice, to inspire more confidence of the public in the system.”
Janelle Chanona
“Probably the most high profile case is the unsolved deaths of five children in Belize City so far. One man was arrested, he was charged with one of the murders, but he was subsequently released. Where are we in that case now and where to we hope to be in the near future?”
Mario Vernon, Head Criminal Investigations Branch
“Let me say this here and now that those cases are not closed. As a matter of fact there is a vigorous ongoing investigation in relation to each and every one of those murders. The public has been very cooperative, more so than ever with the police in these instances. I want to think that it’s of national concern and we have exhausted all the leads and information that the public has given us so far and we still have some more to go.”
Janelle Chanona
“Have the police reached a brick wall with that case though, as far as finding a suspect and linking him to any of those deaths?”
Mario Vernon
“No, we haven’t reached any stoppages as such. There is something that we are working on at this time, but it wouldn’t be in the best interest of the investigation to reveal where we go from here. But I am sure that shortly, you will perhaps be getting good news.”
Rory Field, Belize’s DPP, spoke to the participants about the strengths and weaknesses of prosecution in Belize. Attorney Kirk Anderson also addressed the conference this morning with a presentation on the proper and successful prosecution of cases.
