Digital Makeover for Belize Court System

Magali Marin-Young

Digital makeovers are coming for the Belize court system. Today, the Attorney General of Belize signed a memorandum of understanding with the Caribbean Agency for Justice Solutions, to strengthen the courts and the Office of the Attorney General. The agreement includes provisions for the immediate implementation of e-filing for the courts and a digital case management system for the Court of Appeals. It also creates an online helpdesk to improve accountability and transparency. The initiative is a partnership between the Government of Belize, the Belize Judiciary, and APEX.  Attorney General Magali Marin-Young says the digital innovations will help modernize the system.

Magali Marin-Young, Attorney General

“This software system is presently being used by the Caribbean Court of Justice and has allowed litigants to file appeal documents online all the way from Belize, Guyana and elsewhere. I want to express my gratitude to APEX for reaching out to my office and being so willing to assist us in providing technical and developmental programmes to strengthen and improve the judicial and administrative system here in Belize. It also memorializes this government’s commitment to modernise the judiciary and to provide all the technical and other resources required to facilitate greater efficiency in the case management of cases and that will facilitate the electronic filing of court documents.”

Minister of E-Governance Kevin Bernard attended the M.O.U. signing. Both the Acting Chief Justice of Belize Michelle Arana and the Acting President of the Court of Appeal of Belize Minnet Hafiz-Bertram have embraced the initiative to digitize their respective courts, as part of a wider effort to improve justice delivery, through the development of online courts and digital processes.  President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Justice Adrian Saunders, noted that justice cannot be insulated from the digital revolution taking place in other sectors.