A group of Select Senior Justices of the Peace has begun specialized training to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence across Belize.The two-day programme, being held at ITVET in Belize City, is a joint initiative of the Ministry of the Attorney General, the Belize Judiciary, the Family Court, and the Ministry of Human Development, Family Support and Gender Affairs.
The training forms part of the implementation of the Justices of the Peace Act, 2025, which created the designation of Select Senior Justices of the Peace. Under the new legislation, qualified officers are empowered to issue emergency Interim Protection Orders in situations where a magistrate is unavailable. During her speech, the Chief Magistrate Deborah Rogers said that this is most important because domestic violence doesn't wait until Monday morning when a court opens:
Deborah Rogers - Chief Magistrate
"You all are select senior justices of the peace who sit before us today are being entrusted with something of great consequence. The authority to issue ex parte interim protection orders under the domestic violence act is very serious business. It is a direct extension of the judicial function into the community itself and it carries with it both privilege and even more responsibility upon you all. Just to give you a bit of insight on our intention among the ministries and the magistracy for streamlining the implementation of this act."
"While the justices of the peace are not strictly judicial officers they are you all are and you have always been a very vital extension of our justice system. You are directly embedded in the heart of our villages, our towns, our communities and you are embedded in such a way that the courts can't always be. With this new designation we're not simply adding a function to the JP role we are formally recognizing and strengthening that relationship between justices of the peace, the magistracy but more importantly bringing them closer to the court system and by extension bringing the court system closer to the people that we serve."
"When the public knows that help is closer than they thought, that protection is accessible in their own communities, it changes things. It strengthens and enhances confidence in the justice system and we welcome your role in communicating that message."
Attorney General Anthony Sylvestre also explained why it took so long to implement:
Anthony Sylvestre, SC - Attorney General
"This is the start of the process of having those stakeholders be properly equipped, with the knowledge of the laws and the protocols necessary to ensure that the service that is provided, that it is that it is, discharge efficiently, that is discharged without fear and without in favor and impartially. And those are critical aspects of, any service that is that is provided by the justice system."
"The issue, of course, was, properly ventilating and properly educating the justice of the peace, family as it relates to. So the the scope and nature of of these additional duties. And so it did take a time for that process to, to be done. But suffice it to say, I'm happy to say that we we've reached a point where we can properly implement and rule out, the service in all the districts in Parliament."
"So when a person who, who who's a victim of domestic violence, they would ordinarily approach the court. So when a court is not sitting or on weekends on a long holiday, what this mechanism now allows is for that person to attend at the police station. So, as was explained, there'll be training of subsequent training with the police, department and their, there are 40 or So officers who have been identified. So these persons, these officers, they would be attuned and to, to to what are required the protocols that that that are to be applied and as well the obvious human element that is necessary when treating and dealing with cases of these nature and the police stations that would be identified and having identified those would be, those police stations would be separate and apart from where the police where Other police activity takes place."
The initiative will help close critical gaps in access to protection by allowing emergency orders to be issued during court closures, outside regular court hours, or when immediate access to a magistrate is not possible.
