Out with the Privy Council!

Friday's House Meeting will feature the budget debate - for those who like blustery bickering it will be the gladiatorial highlight of the parliamentary year. But perhaps the most significant business of the day will come in the form of a constitutional amendment to remove the Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal for Belize and replace it with the Caribbean Court of Justice.

This will be the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Belize and will need at least one vote from the Opposition to pass. But passage is at least 90 days away because - as is required for constitutional amendments - 90 days must pass between the first and second readings of the bill.