The Supreme Court Rings in the 2019 Legal Year
The 2019 sitting of the Supreme Court opened this morning with the fanfare that traditionally accompanies the event. The address on the administration of justice was delivered by Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington on behalf of the Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte. The Chief Justice reviewed and reflected on the work of the court. He noted that the budget was small, but there is progress on the prickly issue of backlog of cases. Criminal cases remained a challenge in the calendar of the courts. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
A new legal calendar was ushered in by the judiciary today, fourteen days after the start of 2019. As per tradition, the new year was rang in with all the pomp and circumstance that accompanies such a grand affair. At the foot of the Supreme Court, the sharply dressed rank and file of the Belize Police Department stood in neatly formed rows, as they were carefully inspected by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. The inspection, part of the official ceremony, succeeds an inter-faith service at Holy Redeemer Cathedral.
Those formalities having been taken care of, the presiding judge of the Supreme Court addressed a gathering of judicial officers, including members of the bar association and the Attorney General’s ministry. His presentation touched on the successes and failures of the legal system over the last twelve months.
Kenneth Benjamin
Kenneth Benjamin, Chief Justice
“For the fiscal year 2018/2019 which terminates at the end of March 2019, the sum of ten million and sixty-one thousand, seven hundred and fifty-four dollars has been allocated to the judiciary. This represents a percentage of zero point nine-five-seven of the national budget which is a decrease from the period 2017/2018.”
With a much smaller allotment to manage its administrative affairs, the judiciary is faced with many challenges. Those include the timely settlement of cases that go before the high court, in civil and criminal matters.
Kenneth Benjamin
“In 2018, there were an aggregate of eight hundred and eighteen civil claims inclusive of petitions for bail filed. In the criminal division, with a full compliment of judges to serve the criminal division, supplemented by two additional judges devoted to backlogged cases, the results were extremely encouraging. In January 2018, Madam Justice Williams inherited a dormant list of one hundred and thirty-one cases formerly before retired Justice Gonzalez. Over the year, an additional twenty-four cases were added. Approximately forty of the older cases from the original list were reassigned to Mr. Justice Collin Williams and as of November fifteenth 2018, with both Justice Williamses sitting in Belize City, they have disposed of a total of sixty-two cases, respectively.”
Those numbers are whittling down persistently, however, crime and violence remain crippling social issues that weigh heavily on the criminal justice system. Senior Counsel Wilfred Elrington, who has held the post of chief legal officer, deputized for Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte.
Wilfred Elrington
Wilfred Elrington, Former Attorney General
“I must start by addressing this grave situation in our country, the crime situation. I must say from the outset that my ministry will do all in its power to assist with the fight against crime and we call on the judiciary and the bar association to partner with us in similar vein. I further go out on a limb to call on the social bodies, the churches and citizens to assist with our combating crime endeavors. We need you. The spillage of the blood of young Belizean youth must stop.”
While former Attorney General Elrington stood in for the sitting AG, what are his views on the present state of affairs in the court system?
Wilfred Elrington
“I was exceedingly pleased to see that or to hear and see that we have about twelve judges on the Supreme Court. That’s a lot of judges, to my mind, for a population of under half a million. So in terms of the quantum of senior Supreme Court judges that we have is exceedingly commendable and also too, I notice that steps are being taken to make our system more equitable, especially for people who are serving sentences of death. I’m also very pleased with the report by the president of the bar. She seemed to be very active and getting the support certainly of the younger people, if not the older people, in actually doing something for the Belizean populace in actually giving back.”
President of the Bar Association of Belize Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, also the Director of Public Prosecutions, spoke on the mandate of the legal fraternity in contributing to the development of the country.
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, President, Bar Association
“The present executive was elected on February 21st, 2018 and one of its first acts in office was to develop an action plan based on its mandate, as set out in the Legal Profession Act and its constitution and based on an evaluation of the association done by its membership that was both honest and brutal. The executive highlighted three main areas that it should focus on: continuing legal education of its members and being in the forefront of addressing matters of concern, providing legal representation in a manner that promotes interests of justice and doing its part to protect the civil liberties of the citizenry.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
