Senior Court Bill 2022 Brings Changes to Judiciary

Changes are coming to the judiciary. The Senior Court Bill 2022 is an amalgamation of the Courts of Appeal Act and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act. The bill seeks to rename the Supreme Court to the High Court. The proposed law contains provisions for a number of administrative changes, including provisions for specialized divisions within the High court, as well as the addition of other judicial offices, as well as judicial assistance.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology.

“Belize has not implemented any meaningful reforms in the upper courts since attaining independence, despite the well known challenges present in the upper court. It is event that proper reform of the court’s administration is needed to ensure, as I said, efficiency, consistency in the judicial system. The Senior Courts Bill is all about strengthening the administration of justice. The Bill is an amalgamation of the Courts of Appeal Act and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act while introducing changes to administration of those two courts. It renames the Supreme Court to being the High Court, since the Supreme Court is not our apex court. The Caribbean Court of Justice is our apex court. So, we are fixing that misnomer of the Supreme Court. It consolidates the judicial leadership of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal by making the Chief Justice the legal and administrative leader of both courts. The Chief Justice is to be assisted by a President of the Court of Appeal, two senior judges for the High Court, one senior judge for the criminal division, and one Senior Court Judge for the civil division. This will allow for the criminal division to have a dedicated full time head to improve the timely delivery of justice in that division and to have a full time leader in the civil divisions to provide for greater efficiency in the civil division.”