The Senate then turned to the Belize Constitution Ninth Amendment Bill of 2021. That's the piece of legislation tabled by the government to remove sitting judges from office who persistently fail to meet that 6-month deadline for judgments.
Here's what Courtenay and Peyrefitte had to say when this bill came up yesterday:
Hon. Eamon Courtenay - Leader of Government Business "Madam President, members of the Senate, this amendment to the constitution ties directly with the bill which we just debated. It now adds, as a ground for removing judge for persistently failing to give written decisions and reasons for the decision. So, this is just making sure that under the provisions of the constitution which give independence and security of tenure to judges, new ground is being inserted, tied to if a judge persistently fails to deliver written decisions."
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator "Seems like we're picking on judges today, Madam President. It says, notwithstanding that he has attained the age at which he is required by or under this section to vacate his office, a person holding the office of the justice of the Supreme Court, may be permitted to continue in office for so long, after that attaining that age, as may be necessary to enable him to deliver judgments, or to do anything in relation to proceedings that were commenced before him before he attained that age, only for such period as may be stated in an instrument of appointment. My question is, how do you address a situation where a judge retires. She has not completed her judgment. So, you give her 6 months, a year to complete that they have. And what if they don't complete the judgments during that time. Do you just extend them perpetually until they finished? And, and I'm not trying to be cynical, it may not be a bad thing. If I need a job as a judge, and I don't want to come off the payroll, I just keep saying I'm not finished. I'm not finished. I'm not finished."
