He's the head of Belize's highest court, the CCJ, but, tonight, Sir Dennis Byron is the subject of a criminal complaint in Trinidad and Tobago. Dominican attorney Cabral Douglas - who has been on a crusade against the CCJ after losing a case there - alleges that Grenadian Queen's Counsel, Dr Francis Alexis accepted a bribe from Byron to support the publication of his book called "Changing Caribbean Constitutions."
The story goes like this: Byron was the former director of the Canadian funded JURIST project. Those funds are earmarked for Caribbean Judicial Reform and Institutional Strengthening. According to Caribbean News Now, the complaint is that in 2015, when Byron was director of the JURIST project, he "made the funds available to Alexis although publication of the book was not a part of the project."
And then, in 2016, Alexis was appointed to the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission - which is the body established to appoint judges to the CCJ, and also to police misbehaving judges. Byron is chairman of that body.
Cabral Douglas claims that Byron's transfer of funds to Dr. Alexis is contrary to the CCJ Agreement of 2001 and is in breach of Trinidad and Tobago's Prevention of Corruption Act.
Today the CCJ put out a statement saying, quote, "In relation to the recent attack in the media on the reputation of the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice by a dissatisfied litigant, the President has been advised by his advisors that it would not be appropriate at this time to respond publicly in his personal capacity in any detail to the allegations made against him and disseminated in the public arena.
However, the President wishes it to be known that every single allegation or wrongdoing or improper conduct attributed to him by the litigant in his continuing campaign to denigrate the Court is false.
Appropriate actions are being taken to protect the integrity of the President and the Court." End quote. Dr. Alexis is reportedly taking legal action against Cabral. Sir Dennis Byron is set to leave office next year after heading the Court for the past seven years.
