Yesterday, the Attorney General also explained why there is still an Acting Chief Justice and an Acting President of the Court of Appeal. That's because the Briceno Administration is still fine-tuning its plans to restructure the judiciary for better efficiency and management.
The AG said that in the near future, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal will become known as Belize's High Court. Here's how she explained a few of the things that will change when that happens:
Hon. Magali Marin-Young - Attorney General
"As I had signaled at last year's opening of the court's legal year, the government had promised in its manifesto to restructure the court system. Firstly, it is proposed that the Supreme Court is to be renamed Belize's High Court since it is a misnomer to call it the Supreme Court when it is not our apex court. Under a newly restructured Court of Appeal and a new High Court, there is to be a chief justice whose judicial function is to be recast to administratively supervise the performance of all High Court and Court of Appeal judges and allowing for him or her to sit on either court from time to time in important matters of his or her choosing. Other countries in the region have restructured their court systems along these lines, such as the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; the Barbados Supreme Court, which comprises both the High Court and the Court of Appeal; and the Trinidad and Tobago High Court and Court of Appeal. In these jurisdictions, there is one judicial leader for both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, namely a chief justice. Similarly, under the proposed restructuring, there is to be one judicial leader, namely the Chief Justice, who will head both the High Court and the Court of Appeal and will be assisted by two senior High Court judges, one in the Civil Division and other in the Criminal Division. In the Civil Division, there is to be a public and administrative law division, a family and trust law division, and a commercial law division. The Chief Justice will continue to chair the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, and as chair, will ensure that matters are dealt with efficiently. That office holder will be the person who provides the administrative and legal leadership for both courts. We currently have persons acting as Chief Justice and as president of the Court of Appeal, and only the reason for this, Madame Acting Chief Justice, is because we have had to take our time to analyze the proposed restructuring of the judicial system, and the legal drafters at the Attorney General's Ministry have been busy working on a senior courts bill for which we hope to start consultations very shortly. After the consultations, we hope to table that bill, and then appoint a permanent Chief Justice."
BAR COMPLAINS ABOUT CUT AND PASTE JUDGMENTS
So, while the Attorney General's Ministry is focused on overall improvements to the administration of justice, the Bar Association has signaled its concern about the quality and standard of the written decisions from presiding judges.
They say that a pattern is starting to take shape where the judges simply restate the argued position of each litigant, and then, their findings are concluded by an indication of which argument is accepted as the correct view. Yesterday, the President of the Bar said that litigants deserve full details on exactly "why" an argument succeeds or fails:
Iliana Swift - President, Bar Association
"There is a growing concern by the Bar about the quality of judgments delivered. It has unfortunately become quite common for parties to receive judgments with little to no reasons, and merely a repetition of the arguments made by counsel, and a statement as to which side's argument was accepted. Parties to litigation, and most importantly, the unsuccessful party, should know why a judge arrived at a specific decision."
CR FOREIGN MINISTER IN BELIZE
Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano Quirós, touched down on the P.G.I.A's tarmac today for an official two-day visit to Belize.
That visit began with a courtesy call on Prime Minister John Briceño. The Costa Rican foreign minister will also meet with Hon. Eamon Courtenay, Belize's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration, and the ministers of Health and Wellness, and Blue Economy and Civil Aviation.
Bilateral meetings are expected to be centered on, cooperation matters including Belize's CARICOM chairmanship, SICA, and Central American affairs, tourism, environment, and climate change.
ROSEWOOD EXPORT
And Finally tonight, A Q'eqchi Maya forestry enterprise kicked off 2022 with its first rosewood export of the year, a shipment headed to France. It's momentous for Belize because the enterprise which is run by Conejo Creek, a buffer community of the Sarstoon Temash National Park, believes growing global demand for sustainable wood can drive Belize's Green Economy - with Indigenous sustainable forestry as the engine.
A Press release from the NGO to celebrate the shipment says, quote: "Last year a UN review of 250 studies gave scientific proof that Indigenous forest management is the most effective natural solution to slow deforestation and climate change."
This Maya community enterprise has also made its contribution to music in the form of two US shipments through Sustainable brand Greener Lumber for Taylor Guitar, one of the world's most popular acoustic brands.
