Farewell to Justice Dennis Morrison

Dennis Morrison

In related news, the Court today bid farewell to long-standing jurist Justice Dennis Morrison of Jamaica, who served just shy of eleven years on the bench after more than three decades in practice. Justice Morrison in his final address to the court said he had not expected to become a judge but believes the chance to succeed countryman Ira Rowe on the Belize Court changed his life. He asked members of the Bar to consider improving continuing legal education, law reform and take a leading role in providing legal aid, stating that it was a “continuing scandal” that many prisoners do not have legal representation at trial. It is a professional obligation, he told his colleagues, to provide ‘equality of arms’ before the law in criminal matters. Justice Morrison also serves on Jamaica’s Court of Appeal and was a long-time professor at the Norman Manley Law School where he taught many Belizean law students. Today he was honored in addresses from senior Bar member Derek Courtenay and President of the Bar Association of Belize Jacqueline Marshalleck, who praised his attention to detail in judgments and personal interaction with members of the Belize Bar. Justice Morrison said he considers himself as much Belizean as Jamaican after ten years here and reported that he is looking for property for a permanent residence in the Jewel. The other members of the court are Justices Christopher Blackman, Minnet Hafiz-Bertram and Samuel Awich, who gave the court’s official remarks on Morrison’s departure.