Justice Manuel Sosa taking the president’s seat in the Court of Appeal

In mid-December, we reported that the government was in the process of extending by thirteen years the tenure of Justice Manuel Sosa. There is now a change in that initial proposal. The Government now plans to appoint Justice Sosa as President of the Court of Appeal. He will take over from Justice Elliot Mottley who announced his departure from the bench in October when his term of appointment was reduced drastically from life to one year. The only other Belizean justice on bench is Justice Denys Barrow, who currently serves along with Justice Dennis Morrison from Jamaica. Aside from Mottley, Justice Boyd Carey also left the Court of Appeal earlier this year following a visit from the Solicitor General telling him to leave. With only Justices Sosa, Morrison and Barrow, the Court of Appeal is understaffed and we understand that government is in the process of looking for at least two other justices. One is likely to be Justice Brian Alleyne who served on a temporary basis in May this year. Next door at the Supreme Court, we also note that the appointment of a Chief Justice is pending. Prime Minister Dean Barrow said in August that a CJ would be in office in January 2011. There is no word yet on a final candidate, but we are reliably informed that there is a short list of three candidates currently being considered for the post. In the meantime, Justice Sir John Muria’s term expired and he has moved on.