Magistrate for San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Patricia Arana, and a Crown Counsel in the Office of the Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Ministry, Andrew Adelline Bennett, were today called to the Bar in special ceremonies at the Supreme Court.
Arana has been serving as a Magistrate since August of 2010 and is a former civilian prosecutor with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Amandala was not able to confirm with officials just how many trained and practicing attorneys are in the Magistracy currently; we are reliably informed that both the soon-to-be departing Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie and Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer are among that few number.
In January, during his official address opening the legal year, Acting Chief Justice Samuel Awich had noted, to be considered for a post in the Magistracy, one must be a trained and qualified attorney, but not necessarily a practicing one.
Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson presented the application for enrollment as a practicing attorney on her behalf at court today; Senior Counsel Philip Zuniga and attorney Tanya Moody both submitted affidavits in support of Arana’s application to be enrolled as a practicing attorney in Belize.
Bennett, who interned at the law firm of Courtenay, Coye, and Company, was represented by that firm’s principal, Eamon Courtenay, Senior Counsel, and supported in court by Francis Fonseca and in an affidavit by Christopher Coye.
Both Arana and Bennett received their Bachelor of Law degrees from the University of the West Indies, and their Certificate of Legal Education (CLE) from the Norman Manley Law School in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Chief Justice granted both applications and welcomed the new members of the Bar, who both spoke briefly to the Court, thanking their families and colleagues for supporting them and pledging to use their qualifications and status for the benefit of all and within the laws of Belize.