This morning, a strange press release was sent out to the media that staff at the Belize City Magistrate Court were staging a sick out. But, it's not connected with any of the ongoing strike and protest actions from the unions.
The statement, which carried no name or letterhead, says, quote, "The staff at the Magistracy Department has chosen a sickout today to express our displeasure and total loss of confidence in the management of our Chief Magistrate, Ms. Sharon Frazer. We do not feel that she is capable of taking this department where it needs to go! We deserve better. We, therefore, implore the Government to come in and remedy this situation." End quote.
We checked at the Magistrate's Court, and found the court open for business like any normal Monday. But knowledgeable sources told us that they did notice the absence of key members of staff. Credible reports were that approximately 10 staff members didn't show up for work. We spoke with Chief Magistrate Frazer to get a sense of this internal conflict that appears to be brewing. She said that she has recently found herself embroiled in a dispute with the court's finance officer. This finance officer has reportedly made two very serious allegations against the Chief, and has made a complaint to the Attorney General's office.
The dispute enters over an estimate for repairs to the flooring in her office. Apparently there was one very high estimate, and one very low one. While they were waiting for a third, it is alleged that this disgruntled Magistracy staffer then made a complaint at the AG's Ministry that the Chief Magistrate had ordered her to make arrangements for the repairs at the highest price. Secondly, this staffer allegedly complained that the Chief Magistrate was attempting to get her transferred over this dispute.
The Chief Magistrate told us today that she views these allegations as unfair, because her professional integrity is being questioned, and she must now make a written defense for an expenditure that did not happen. The Chief added that as far as she is concerned, she is still waiting for a third opinion on how much it would cost to repair the floor of her office.
When we asked about the staff members who have joined the finance officer in this sick out, the Chief Magistrate told us that the finance officer has recruited several of her co-workers who are closest to her.
Later in the afternoon, the Chief Magistrate sent out a signed press release to reiterate that the court is opened for business, and is providing service to the public.
In other news about the Magistrate's Court, last Friday, we asked the Chief Magistrate about the state of magistracy in which 3 courts currently have no sitting magistrate:
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Would you speak about the state of the magistracy, there is no magistrate in Punta Gorda, Independence, San Ignacio now as well I believe and we see that the government has move expeditiously to implement the 9th amendment to the constitution to pass it through and this deals with basically punitive measures against supreme court judges who non-perform on certain deadline. But we know that justice for 95% of the population means the magistrate court - is it an oversight to neglect the woeful state of the magistracy while attending to these matters at the supreme court which only a very small percent of the population can access?"
Sharon Frazer, Chief Magistrate
"I wouldn't say that it is woeful neglect. I can tell you that when this government took over, the attorney general did meet with every section that comes under her department, her ministry inclusive of the magistracy and we did speak about the vacancies that exist, the fact that as you mentioned there are no sitting magistrates in at least 3 courts and move have been made to try to get it filled. Understanding that it is not just pulling a public officer. There are persons who has to have a specialize skill to be placed there. The public has not suffered unduly however because we have been doing rotations of magistrates, so the service is being provided, it's not provided as the way as we would want, but I wouldn't want to say that in fact it is a total neglect. The request have been made, but as I said it's specialize officers that you need to fill these posts. It's not that you can just put anyone there. The chief justice is very well aware of the situation and it's not being ignored, it's just that it is time, it is to ensure that we put the right people to do that, because you know that at the end of the day they are determining people's rights."
As you heard in our interview, the Magistracy is conducting rotations to ensure that there is coverage of the cases in the courtrooms where no magistrate is currently assigned.
