Attorney Lisa Shoman explains Rule of Law
Lisa Shoman
The debate on the acquisition of Telemedia is still raging. One of the most stated arguments deals with the rule of law. Did government disregard the rule of law when it took back control of the company after the ruling of the Court of Appeal that declared the acquisition null and void? This morning, we heard the perspective of attorney and senator, Lisa Shoman.
Lisa Shoman, Senator/Attorney
“In the preamble to the constitution, the first section of the constitution, which is the back bone of the constitution, it states very clearly that “We the people of Belize affirm that men and institutions remain free only as long as they are founded on the rule of law”. So what does the rule of law mean? 00:46:55 The rule of law is shorthand for a great many things but boiled down to its essence, it means that no one is above the law; not the legislator, not the individual citizen and that decisions will be made in our country based upon the rule of law and not based upon the popular will or what I would call demagoguery. In other words, the prime minister cannot wake up today and decide that he is going to do something because that’s what he and his people would like. He has to follow the law, he has to submit to the law, he is subject to the law, he is ruled by the law. Belize, unlike other countries—for instance England, where we got this rule of law—Belize is not a country in which parliament or the legislator is supreme, the constitution is supreme. The constitution is the supreme law of the country, the constitution is based upon the rule of law and the constitution states in this very first article that Belize is a sovereign nation and a democracy and it means that we have chosen to found our democracy on the rule of law.”
So why has barrow been allowed to do this? What can be done?
check Professor dicey
Very good and interesting point.
However, don’t you think the “Accomodation Agreement” was slightly above “the rule of law” as well?
Lisa might not be cute, but she is THE SMARTEST…….YOU GO GIRL……..speak truth to power.
So after Barrow finishes taking over the public utilities…where will he go next? All business owners in Belize be aware…he might want the hotels, hardware stores, restaurants, or maybe the airline industry..the oil industry…the farm industries…the tourism industry….apparently there is no limit!!! Hmm…..should be change or name from Belize to Cuba????
I for one want to hear an independent lawyer give their take on the issue because once they politically affiliated, these lawyers will twist it in their favor for the purpose of politics. PUP will twist it to say its wrong while UDP will twist it to say its not. SO i don’t listen to any of them bc i don’t expect any politically affiliated lawyer to say if its legal or not. The sad thing is, its all lawyers that run this country and all of them play the public for a fool to suit their intentions. Channel 5 you need to try bring a non political lawyer on the show …….
it’s really getting scarey with the baldhead barrow dictatorship getting worse, might as well be friends to chavez and castro under the table, we never know.
Well their was a UDP lawyer that was on the news saying that the prime Minister was wrong………..
Lisa does NOT twist words to suit a political party. You will not find a more honest attorney in Belize. She tells it like it IS!