Photo: EU and UNDP Judicial Partner who attended the PACE Justice Conference
by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Oct. 23, 2023
In an effort to alleviate the pressing issue of criminal case backlogs in Caribbean countries, the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean States (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have announced a strategic partnership. This initiative, named the Partnership of the Caribbean and the European Union on Justice (PACE Justice) Programme, is poised to revolutionize justice reform in the Caribbean region.
With a generous grant from the EU amounting to EUR$9.75 million, the PACE Justice Programme was officially unveiled on 17th October 2023 at the Hilton Barbados Resort. The program’s inception was the result of extensive consultations, dialogue, and collaborative efforts between the UNDP, the EU, and a broad range of national and regional justice administration stakeholders.
Backlogs in the Caribbean justice system, caused by limited human and technological resources, have been leading to increased incarceration rates, especially among young males aged 18-35, who remain detained for extended periods without trial.
Causes include outdated police data systems, manual evidence management, and witness intimidation, especially impacting women and gender-based violence victims.
The goal of the PACE Justice Programme, therefore, is to enhance the abilities of Caribbean police, prosecutors, lawyers, courts, and prisoners to handle criminal cases effectively.
This will be achieved through key strategies involving the integration of advanced software, hardware, training modules, procedural reforms, capacity development, and community awareness programs. The goal is not just to reduce the current backlogs, but to also prevent future ones.
The PACE Justice initiative will target countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Honourable Dale Marshall, Attorney General of Barbados, emphasized the urgency of the situation: “The eight [beneficiary] countries are very different in culture and experience, but we do have a common problem with the backlog in our courts, and there is a burning need for criminal justice reform,” he said.
Belizean representatives who were in attendance included figures such as Chief Justice of Belize, Her Ladyship, Honourable Louise Blenman; Minister of Home Affairs in Belize, Honourable Kareem Musa; Former Chief Justice of Belize, Kenneth Benjamin; Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize, Justice Francis Cumberbatch; High Court Judge, Honourable Justice Nigel Pilgrim; and Attorney General, Anthony Sylvestre.
“On behalf of the government and people of Belize, we express our gratitude to the partners in this initiative,” Sylvestre said to us. “In my experience, I have seen the need for the court, and particularly sentencing courts, to have much more expansive options available,” he went on to comment.
He further noted that indeed there are some issues in the justice system that need to be addressed. “What we can indicate is that these [issues] are taken on board very seriously and steps have already been taken to address them,” he said.
Currently, consultations have already begun to take place where the views of stakeholders, including the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, the Judiciary, the Rehabilitation Department, and the Bar Association, are being taken into consideration in regard to the PACE Justice Programme.
“I would simply indicate to the Belizean public that the government is appreciative and fully attuned with the concerns, that is not unique to Belize, of the criminal justice system, and steps are already being taken to address that,” Sylvestre added.
Set to conclude in March 2027, the PACE Justice Programme promises transformative results for the participating countries such as public trust in the judicial system, improved access to justice, a decline in human rights violations, and a firmer adherence to the rule of law.