The Belize Public Service Commission - it's a constitutionally established body which presides over the entire public service - from recruitment to discipline, to termination of public officers.
Because of its broad powers, the 6 member body has an entire section of the constitution dedicated to it - section 105(1).
But, did the Briceno administration step outside the bounds of the constitutional parameters when it appointed a members retroactively? We asked the Minister of the public service about it today:
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service
"On December 23rd, the cabinet secretary acting as the Deputy Governor General, appointed Maureen Leslie as a member of the Public Service Commission with retroactive effect February 25th, 2025, for a period of one year. But the experts in the public service tell us that there is no authority to appoint retroactively. Secondly, if a member of the PSC was sitting on making decisions, not having been properly appointed before December 23rd, 2025, those decisions would be unlawful."
"I know that Miss Maureen Leslie has served well as a member of the commission. But those appointments are done by the office of the Prime Minister. And so I wouldn't be able to comment on when that appointment was done. What I do know is that when there, disciplinary procedures or administrative matters that are being determined, it's not necessary that the entire commission sits on them. Sometimes it's a smaller group. So I wouldn't be able to comment on, on any decisions that Miss Leslie took a part of."
We will be following up with the office of the Prime Minister about this retroactive appointment.
