Who’s to be the next Chief Magistrate? Minister Usher says the JLSC to decide

We reported last month that Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser is retiring from the public service after almost 35 years on the job. There have been reports that her replacement will be a Sri Lankan national, and not a Belizean currently in the system. The Chief Magistrate herself indicated that a succession plan had been charted with Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford actively involved. However, if the reports are true, then the Sri Lankan will take over the post. When we asked the Public Service Minister Henry Charles Usher about it, he explained that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission will ultimately decide.

Hon. Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform: “When it comes to judicial officers they call under the Judicial and Legal Services Commission. Remember there are three commissions that deal with the terms of service for all public officers. You have the Judicial and Legal Services Commission dealing with judicial officers, you have the Security Services Commission dealing with the security officers and then you have the Public Service Commission dealing with the other vast amount of public officers. So they are the ones that , the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, they are the ones who determine the succession when it comes to the Chief Magistrate.”