Prominent LGBT activist Caleb Orozco has, for better or worse, become the face of the fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation in Belize. In 2016, he won a monumental decision in the Supreme Court which decriminalizes consensual sexual acts in private between adults who are capable of consenting. But Orozco has now been dragged unwillingly […]
Before the Section fifty-three decision, in 2013 the National Assembly passed a raft of amendments to the Criminal Code to reform the law in relation to sexual offenses against children. Under that amendment, sexual crimes against male minors were criminalized – like crimes against female minors. Orozco, along with UNIBAM fought for the amendments. He […]
Time does fly, but it was twelve years ago, on the occasion of the Supreme Court opening in 2006 that Supreme Court Justice Michelle Arana was sworn in by then-Chief Justice Doctor Abdulai Conteh as Belize’s first female Supreme Court judge. Now for the first time, with the swearing-in of Marilyn Williams on Friday and […]
In regional news…we have been reporting on Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago Ivor Archie, who has come under fire from the Trinidad and Tobago Law Association. Today, he instructed his legal team to demand a retraction and apology from the Trinidad Express newspaper for a series of articles which he says defamed him. Chief […]
Government’s allotment of financial resources to the judiciary has always been an area of concern for Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. As presiding judge of the Supreme Court for the past seven years, he has made a point of highlighting the budget set aside for the justice system to function effectively. Last year, those resources were […]
While the Chief Justice lauded the improvements within the judiciary during his annual address, President of the Bar Association of Belize, Priscilla Banner, took a more sober approach to the dispensation of justice. She says that with the many developments, if justice isn’t meted out in a timely and fair manner, then it is still […]
The ferry in the village of San Estevan, Orange Walk, which links it with Progresso in Corozal and points north, has been closed from December twenty-ninth. At the time, the Ministry of Works indicated that urgent maintenance needed to be done on the ferry. The closure was slated to last through to this Wednesday. But […]
Men and women are exposed to a number of sexually transmitted diseases. This is why the checkups are recommended as often as possible. It is not costly and readily available at the Belize Family Live Association, where the range of medical services is expanding. News Five’s Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting Over the […]
On the adjournment of the House of Representatives on Friday, Leader of the Opposition John Briceño gave a general address on the issue of crime, zeroing in on the murder of Fareed Ahmad on December twenty-eighth, for which a woman police constable, Michelle Brown, has been charged. While Briceño was not able to bend the […]
An ecumenical church service gave way to the traditional opening of the Supreme Court this morning. Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin was joined by other judges, magistrates, attorneys and others in the legal fraternity, as well as spectators, as he inspected the guard of honor that is mounted to mark the solemnity of the occasion in […]
So while the 2018 calendar is off to a solid start, what becomes of the unresolved cases from previous years for which the bar association brought pressure to bear on the Chief Justice to deliver those judgments? It’s a question that we posed to the Attorney General this morning. He says that in spite of […]
Extradition proceedings against Andrew Bennett are set to commence as soon as Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington signs a sheaf of documents presented by Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, on behalf of the United States government. The well-known attorney was a no-show at the opening of the Supreme Court earlier today, amid the scandal that has ensued […]
The Ministers of Works and Home Affairs were put on the spot in the House of Representatives on Friday by Stann Creek West area representative Rodwell Ferguson. Rene Montero was directly questioned about the explosion in the Santa Cruz area of Santa Elena Town in December, which killed a manager for Tiger Aggregates, the company […]
Following the House meeting, Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources Dean Barrow appeared willing to lay all the blame on Tiger Aggregates. While he was not completely clear on the question, he insisted on two things: one, that there could be no arrangement between Belize Roadway Construction and the Works Minister and Cayo Central […]
Like most viewers on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington was watching the news when he saw the report by the Belize Territorial Volunteers’ leader Wil Maheia. Maheia was accompanying members of a youth basketball team led by Clinton “Pulu” Lightburn on a trip to Sarstoon Island when they encountered members of the Guatemalan […]
Back in December former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay demanded that current Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington clashed over the Maritime Areas Act. Courtenay asked Elrington to reveal which legal advisors he and the government have been consulting in the U.K. who suggest that the Act should not be repealed right away, lest it offend Guatemala. Elrington […]
The spectre of loss in aid from the United States hangs over Belize and other countries, one hundred and twenty-eight in total, who voted in favour of a United Nations resolution in December. This resolution opposed the U.S. decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv, the national capital, to Jerusalem, the historic […]
The resurfacing of the Caye Caulker airstrip and additional improvements appears to be a done deal. From an initial seven-point-five million contract to Imer Hernandez Development Company Limited, the project will now cost just under four million dollars and be more limited than initially outlined. Responding to a question in the House of Representatives on […]
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNCAC, was all the chatter among the unions and government’s social partners in late 2016, following the eleven-day strike effected by the Belize National Teachers Union that October. The one-year anniversary of signing on to that accord was commemorated in December and strides are being made for government to […]
Just before the Christmas holiday we reported on a blaze at the barracks on Flamboyant Street that left two families without a roof over their head. The fire department reported that a child caused that fire and a candle caused the most recent fire in Taylor’s Alley. Today Assistant Fire Chief Benisford Matura reminded the […]
The House of Representatives met today in a chilly Belmopan for the first time in 2018. The widely anticipated 2018 General Revenue Supplementary Appropriation Bill dealing with the UHS judgment was presented for first reading. This follows the arrival of the official certificate of judgment from the C.C.J. on Thursday, which sets the tab at […]
The Prime Minister repeated in greater detail his earlier sentiments from the November twenty-second press conference which seemed to present a legal basis by which Parliament could decide not to pay the judgment. He cited cases, lawyer-style, from other Commonwealth jurisdictions facing similar issues, and even suggested means in which the Crown Proceedings Act or […]
But Opposition Leader John Briceño appears unconvinced by any of it. Following the House meeting he told reporters that none of the Prime Minister’s arguments or those of the attorneys the government has paid over the years have succeeded where it counts; indeed, the only success has been to increase the debt burden. He also […]
The Prime Minister indicated that there will be at least a month’s grace period to the next House meeting when the debate takes place. In that time, the interest continues to accrue. But apart from the legal arguments, the moral question is a much easier one for the Prime Minister to respond to: in short, […]
As noted in our top story, Prime Minister Dean Barrow is going ahead with the Commission of Inquiry agreed on with the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. But before any appointments can be made and a schedule set, the Congress has to draft terms of reference for review by legal authorities. Prime Minister […]
