Do you think that the independence of the Judiciary is at risk?
For some time there appears to be fundamental differences between the Executive and the Judiciary. It became even more glaring in the last few days when the Bar Association took a position on the timing of the retirement of Chief Justice, Abdulai Conteh. The CJ was not granted an extension past September to conclude cases before him when three other judges have been granted extensions in the recent past. That gave the impression that the CJ was being squeezed out. We ask: Do you think that the independence of the Judiciary is at risk? Send your comments and responses using your SMART phones to 8686 or post your vote on our e-poll at channel5belize.com. You can also send an email with your comments to questions@channel5belize.com.
I think we need some kind of public hearings about a candidate for judge before he is appointed. The quality and fairness of our judges seems to be very inconsistent. For the average person, going to court is like playing the lottery — whether you win or lose depends on what judge you get as much as the facts.
When has the judiciary been independent? Maybe on paper. Let be realistic.
If the Judiciary is a government body responsible for itself then it should regulate its own affairs. I believe the Chief Justice should complete his duty to conclude the cases put before him unless there is someone to immediately succeed him…..If there is not, this will only lead to longer delays in court actions.
Sorry about the grammar i was speed typing. And people who do not know what is meant by independence of Judiciary, more commonly known as “Judiciary Independence” it’s a principle that the judiciary should be properly insulated from the legislative and executive powers or in simplier terms the Judiciary should not be influenced by the politicians, lawyers or any other civil servants in their selfish self interest.
One man should not be allowed to make a decision on the appointment of the chief justice and other members of the judiciary if justce is to remain blind. It is high time that we introduce a system whereby these appointments are made by a bipartisan committee.