Opening of 2009 session of Supreme Court
The traditional opening of the 2009 session of the Supreme Court took place today with a Mass, held this year at Saint John’s Anglican Cathedral and it had the usual fanfare reserved for the occasion.
This was followed by ceremonies at the foot of the court’s main building on Regent Street, attended by Judges, members of the Bar Association, Magistrates, Commissioners and elements of the Police and Belize Defense Force marching bands. But departing from the solemnity that accompanies the opening of the court, the CJ and AG had different views on the state of the judiciary. Marion Ali was present for the event and has the details in this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Following the traditional pomp and circumstance display in the January sun, it was down to business. And business it was as Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh presented in his courtroom a situation report of the past year touching on many issues. In terms of finances, the C.J. said the picture was bleak and reflected on the Judiciary’s financial woes.
Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh
“The public fund made available to the judiciary does not reflect the important role expected of the judiciary in national affairs. It is still woefully under funded. I realize, of course, the judiciary does not win votes. The total national budget for fiscal year 2008-2009 is some $649,599,163; only the sum of $6,704,990 is allocated to the judiciary including the Magistrates’ Court. This may not be an insignificant amount but it represents only one point zero three percent of the National budget. If I may take this opportunity to paraphrase in circumstances, the memorable words of Oliver Twist, “Can we please have some more?”
But in sharp response to the C.J.’s comments, Attorney General, Wilfred Elrington recollected that he has fulfilled all the requests made of him since taking over office in February of last year.
Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General
“Every request, without exception; every single request which was made of me during the last ten months that I have been in office, I have acted upon. Forty thousand dollars was paid over for the renovation of the Chief Justice’s Chambers—that was one of the first requests I got—twenty thousand was paid for the installation of a new network system for the general registry and Supreme Court, a hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars was disbursed to purchase recording and reporting equipment for the Supreme Court, a hundred and fifty thousand dollars was paid for repairs to the Supreme Court, seventy-five thousand eight hundred and fifty-two dollars was paid for the renovation for the Vital Statistics Unit of the General Registry. When I went to the place it was a dump; an absolute dump. I could not comprehend how leaders of this country could have hoisted that thing and the public had to go there on a daily basis to get birth certificates. We immediately provided the finances to refurbish it and it is looking beautifully now.”
Elrington also did not welcome the C.J.’s criticism of inadequate human resources. Using his personal experience as a past Supreme Court judge to challenge present-day judges to apply themselves in more meaningful ways.
Wilfred Elrington
“When I sat on the bench—and I’m sure Mr. Justice Lucas can verify—and I was doing criminal cases, I was able consistently to go to Corozal and finish the criminal session there before time, come to Belize City and do the central session before time, go to Dangriga and do the central session before time and come back here and deal with all the reports from the Magistrates’ Court. And I did that for the entire time that I worked as a judge. It required that I worked a minimum of fourteen hours a day, six days a week and I thought that that was a sacrifice which I will gladly make for my people.”
But the Attorney General was not done and he spoke of recommendations made to him to make judges more accountable in light of the salaries and perks they enjoy.
Wilfred Elrington
“The members of our judiciary are the very best paid public officers in the land. They all receive more pay than members of the Cabinet, including myself. They all have the most modern means of transportation, they have twenty-four hour, it seems, police guard and other perks. They are the very best paid public officers in the land. There seem to be no mechanism for making our judges of the Supreme Court accountable for their actions or inactions no matter how slothful, ignorant or negligent they may be and no matter how much loss they may cause to a litigant. That state of affairs cannot be permitted to continue. I have also received communication from members of the public who suggested that I—and these are written communications—that I should cause legislation to be passed which would make disbursement of judges salaries contingent with the delivery of their judgment in a timely fashion as is done in some states in the United States including California. But if you thought that that was radical, our very own Bar Association, invited me to invite judges of the Supreme Court to tender their resignations if they were unable to complete certain outstanding judgments within a time set by the Bar Association itself. We are all aware of that, as a matter of fact, I still have the communication right here.”
But while the C.J. and the A.G. may share varying views on matters of finances and reassertion, when it came down to the issue of the criminal justice system, the record shows that in 2008 there was an unprecedented number of cases thrown out for want of prosecution and the most prevalent reason is that witnesses are reluctant to testify because of fear.
Abdulai Conteh
“A disturbing pattern has been evolving for some time now which does not, it must be said, due credit to the criminal justice system. A part of this pattern is that witnesses to crimes are increasingly unwilling to come forward to testify. This may be due to fear or other pressures. This results in lack of material witnesses for a successful presentation or prosecution of offences. This problem has manifested itself in the Supreme Court more tellingly so more in the past year. In the course of 2008, the Director of Public Prosecutions Office—I’m sorry to say—lodged not less than eighty-three nolle prosequi… eighty three. The expression, nolle prosequi, which is from Latin French, is almost becoming part of Belizean Creole; “dehn done nolle di case”. It is sad.”
News Five tried reaching the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt to give her views on this very perplexing matter but our efforts were not successful today. Meanwhile, for 2009, those who have been charged and wish to plea guilty will be given that chance on Tuesday on the very first business day for the new year. Marion Ali for News Five.
Chief Justice Conteh thanked former U.S. Ambassador, Robert Dieter, for his contributions of books to the Supreme Court library. In respect of cases, in 2008, there was only one criminal appeal lodged in the Privy Council and four civil appeals. The Court of Appeal disposed of fourteen criminal and forty-one civil appeals. Meanwhile, in the Supreme Court, some eight hundred and eighty-nine claims were filed in 2008. Of these seven hundred and forty-two were completed. Two hundred and fourteen divorce petitions were also filed, and two hundred and seventeen of these were dealt with. On the criminal front, there were a whopping sixty three murder cases heard, twenty-nine attempted murder cases, three robberies, eighteen rapes, twenty-seven carnal knowledge, and sixteen cases of unlawful carnal knowledge. There were four manslaughter and twenty-two manslaughter by negligence cases.
Justice Troadio Gonzalez was contracted to work from September 2008 to the end of August this year and Justice Adolph Lucas’s tenure was also extended for three years. Appeals Court Judge John Muria’s assignment was extended and an additional post of Justice of the Supreme Court was created to accommodate Guyanese, Oswel Legall. Seven new registration clerk posts were created and the new Registrar General is Velda Flowers. But there is still no word on who will fill the post of Solicitor General, vacated since June of last year by Tanya Herwanger.
