Chief Justice Highlights Judicial System Weaknesses in Opening of Legal Year 2024 Ceremony

The pre-recorded opening of the Legal Year 2024 was premiered this morning with the traditional agenda and presentations.  Among those was the Chief Justice, Honorable Madame Louise Esther Blenman, address, as well as the Inspection of the Guard of Honour and addresses by the Hon. Chief Justice, the Attorney General and the President of the Bar Association.  Chief Justice Blenman, in her 50-minute address, highlighted several weaknesses in the judicial system, including delayed justice.

Madam Louise Blenman, Chief Justice of Belize: “Both the prosecution and a fully manned defense bar must play their part. There are simply too few lawyers at the defense bar. Also I cannot ignore the fact that the remand population remains unacceptably high. I visited the Central Prison and noted that several young people are among the detainees there. In Belize it is not unusual for persons to have to wait in excess of eight years for a trial. This is highly unsatisfactory and is being addressed as a matter of priority. Our Justices in the criminal division continue to work tirelessly and they are committed to ensuring that no case takes in excess of two years to be disposed. Additionally as a result of self audit three hundred and seventy four dormant appeals have been uncovered, some dating back as far as 2013. They have all been assigned to Civil and Criminal High Court Justices. This is an addition to their onerous active dockets with each judge scheduling status hearings in the dormant appeals with a view to clearing them urgently. Most of the inferior appeals have been completed. The Court of Appeal too was not immune from backlogs. There are a number of outstanding appeals dating as far back as 2017. The major challenge faced by the Court of Appeal is the lack of transcripts, poor recording of high court proceedings further compound the issue. There is an urgent need for more stenographers as well as a need for a more efficient system of recording proceedings in the high court which would enable the preparation of records of appeal and facilitate the timely disposal of appeals from the High Court.”

In her presentation, Chief Justice Blenman also emphasized on the steps being taken to not only fix the issues, but also to modernize the court system.

Madam Louise Blenman, Chief Justice of Belize:  “As I had promised last year, various committees have been established to assist our courts in achieving its work and to implement our reforms. I will briefly discuss each committee. The Sentencing Guidelines Committee. Presently, there are no sentencing guidelines in Belize and there is some disquiet about sentencing. Therefore, a Sentencing Guidelines Committee was established. The expectation is that by providing the necessary guidance through the guidelines there will be consistent, proportional, and equitable approaches to sentencing. Major complaints about sentencing disparities should be reduced once the guidelines are followed and it can also lead to the increase in the disposition of cases without a trial. The Civil Procedure Rules Revision Committee The Civil Procedure Rules Revision Committee has been established to revise the Supreme Court rules which were formulated in 2005. There are numerous decisions of our senior courts which highlight the need to review the rules. The review and revision of our rules will contribute to the development of our Belizean jurisprudence. Judicial Ethics and Reform. Our Code of Judicial Conduct and Etiquette has not been modernized since it was promulgated in 2005. There is a pressing need to provide guidelines for social media usage for our judicial officers and for registrars, magistrates, and other court users. The Judicial Ethics Reform Committee has been established to address emerging issues of ethical conduct and responsibility. Website Modernization Committee. We have established the Website Modernization Committee. The senior courts are aware of the numerous and justifiable complaints about our outdated website. This committee is dedicated to modernizing our court’s website, making it more user-friendly and enabling easier case searches by lawyers and other court users. It will also seek to ensure that the public is adequately and regularly informed of our court’s accomplishments and events. I would like to acknowledge the full support and active participation of Honorable Madam President Minnette Hafeez Bertram and the honorable justices of the Court of Appeal and the High Court on these committees. Special appreciation is extended to the dedicated attorneys at law, both at the public and private bar, who have generously volunteered their services on these committees and thereby demonstrate their commitment to improving access to justice. The High Court justices have willingly accepted a position on two or three committees, reflecting their exemplary commitment to provide an efficient service to Belize. All of the committees have commenced work.”

President of the Belize Bar Association, Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck, spoke for some seven minutes.  One part of his focus had to do with the introduction of new laws.  In his address, he did indicate, however, that new laws are just ink on paper, if there are no means to uphold them.

SC Andrew Marshalleck, President of the Bar Association: “In the past year we have seen a myriad of legislation enacted. A fair number of them are designed to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These laws we are told are essential to maintaining banking relationships internationally and allowing us to participate financially in the global economy. They are passed with dizzying speed and set new complex standards for participation in the financial system. We’ve also seen regulations passed to penalize price gouging and to regulate the production and delivery of sugar cane and to severely penalize assaults against members of the National Assembly and Public Officers among others. We now have draft legislation in table to incentivize activize activities sequestering carbon and allowing for the trade of carbon credits. All of these laws rest squarely on the power of the state to penalize those who act contrary to them. I list these laws as mere examples to demonstrate not only the volume of legislation we pass each year to confront a variety of societal problems but also their variety and complexity and I do this to underscore the importance of an independent, competent and efficient court system to interpret and enforce these laws if any of their noble objectives are in fact to be realized over the medium and long terms.”

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the official opening of the legal year was done in-person.  Since 2021, it has been taking place virtually.   This is primarily due to the current refurbishments taking place, after the damages brought on by Hurricane Lisa in November 2022.