And in other news, two more foreign judges are bound for the High Court bench.
7News has seen leaked official correspondence revealing that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission has recommended two new elevation appointments to the bench.
According to a memorandum from Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie to the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister is formally seeking the Leader's views before advising the Governor General on the appointments, as mandated by Section 97 of the Belize Constitution.
The first recommended appointee is Ms. Sheiniza Smith, whose tenure is set to take effect on September 1st, 2026. She is Guyanese.
The second recommendation elevates Mr. Peter Carter to the bench, effective September 15th, 2026. He is Trinidadian.
But two qualified Belizean applicants were not even shortlisted. Those applicants were registrar Trenia Young and Former Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser.
But today the AG had a different spin. He said that despite the signed letter we have seen, no appointments have been made and the process is still ongoing. Here's how he explained it.
Anthony Sylvester, Attorney General
"There has not been any formal appointment of any judges, so as part of the process, the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, they engage in their process. They're a separate body, separate from government, separate from any other entity, so they're the ones that does the reviewing of applications, reviewing of CVs, interviews, etc. They would make a recommendation with respect to who are the successful applicants. Once that recommendation is received, that recommendation is submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister, which submits it to the Leader of the Opposition to request, to this particular case, the honorable Tracy Panton, her views on the matter. As things currently stand, she has written to the government and she has requested certain information, so the process is still ongoing and no final determination has been made on that matter as yet."
Reporter
"How long will that process take to complete more or less?"
Anthony Sylvester
"That process continues. Obviously, consultation requires reasonable opportunity, and this is what the jurisprudence of this area would suggest: a reasonable opportunity for the opposition to receive her feedback and, if that is the case, for her to make further inquiries. So the process is still ongoing and no formal decision has been made as yet."
From our experience, "consultation" in these cases simply means informing the Leader of the Opposition who does not have veto power over appointments.
