Magistrates in one-day seminar on an independent judiciary

Instead of wading through countless cases in their courtroom, today Magistrates attended a one-day seminar hosted by the U.S. Embassy. The session was entitled: “The Importance of an Independent Judiciary and an Efficient, Effective and Impartial Judicial System.” Facilitating was U.S. Magistrate Judge, James Hopkins, from West Palm Beach, Florida who has thirty years experience in the legal system, who told News Five that Belize can learn from the experiences of the United States.

Judge James Hopkins, U.S. Magistrate
“In order for a judiciary to be truly independent, it has to not be unduly influenced by one particular interest group, be it the group that is in power at the time or private groups that may seek to corruptly influence the judiciary. Rather, the judiciary has to satisfy the rights and interests of all groups. That includes the common citizen as well as business groups as well as the government. It’s only when all of those interests are satisfied to the extent that the rule of law can sort out the respective rights of those individuals, can a country have an effective democracy.”

Kendra Griffith
“It’s a long process, no?”

Judge James Hopkins
“It’s a very long process we have been at it for years in the United States with our ups and downs and I’m here to discuss those ups and downs so that the judiciary may get the benefit of our experiences and try not to repeat the mistakes that we’ve made.”

Kendra Griffith
“What sort of benefits are you hoping to reap from him?”

Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh, Supreme Court Judge
“Shared experiences, particularly in making the judiciary independent and making judges more comfortable and competent in doing their work, like case management, pretrial reviews. He has had some experience both as a prosecutor and now as a federal judge. We hope to share experiences and learn from him.”