_{Dr. Anthony Richard Rosado – Deputy Commissioner of Police}

BELIZE CITY, Fri. Apr. 11, 2025

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dr. Anthony Richard Rosado, who is also the incoming Police Commissioner, has been favoured by a court ruling on a claim brought by DCP Bartholomew “Bart” Jones to settle a seniority dispute. Jones had filed an application for judicial review against the Security Services Commission (SSC) back in 2023, and Rosado had successfully applied to join the case as an interested party. William A. Lindo represented Jones, while Jarvis Lou and Stanley Grinage represented the defendant. Rosado retained the services of attorney Wayne Piper. The matter was heard on October 3, 2024, and today, just over six months later, High Court Justice Tawanda Hondora handed down his decision.

_{Bartholomew “Bart” Jones – Deputy Commissioner of Police}

The claim addresses the practice of retroactive promotions. Jones’ elevation to Deputy Commissioner was backdated to January 1, 2022, while that of Rosado was backdated to July 1, 2021, making him Jones’ superior by 6 months, though Jones maintains that he has always been senior to Rosado. Both men were informed of their promotions to the post of Deputy Police Commissioner on the same day, March 23, 2023. Jones argued that the Commission breached his right to due process and his constitutional right to equal protection under the law, as he was not granted a hearing on why Rosado was promoted effectively ahead of him. He did not ask for Rosado’s promotion to be quashed; rather, he wanted the date of the promotion to be set aside. Jones joined the police force in 1991, while Rosado joined in 1996. Jones was promoted to the post of Assistant Commissioner on March 1, 2019, while Rosado was retroactively promoted to the Assistant Commissioner post on July 1, 2020.

CEO in the Ministry of the Public Service, Rolando Zetina via affidavit stated that the Commission advised the Governor General that Rosado be promoted with effect from July 1, 2021, which is the date when he first started acting in the role of Deputy Commissioner.

Jones relied on the Belize Police Department’s Procedure Manual which clearly outlines the determination of seniority. However, the Commission held that the Manual is an internal policy which has no force of law; and the Commission is not bound by it, not only because it did not sanction the document, but also because the manual was not enacted pursuant to any law or subsidiary legislation. The Commission said it therefore relied on the Public Service Regulations (PSR) at 26(3), which states that “a public officer shall be considered to be of equal seniority as other public officers appointed to the same grade within six months of the date of appointment.” By that rule, the Commission affirmed that Rosado and Jones were “of equal seniority.” Justice Hondora accepted that it is the PSR that should apply in the determination of seniority in the force. He therefore recommended that the Manual be amended to be consistent with the PSR, and ruled that the decision of the Commission did not disadvantage Jones regarding seniority.

Importantly, Justice Hondora highlighted that this case did not challenge whether the discretion of the Commission to promote officers with retroactive effect is consistent with the law. Additionally, the Judge also remarked that in the proceedings, Jones did not argue that the Commission acted outside of the parameters of its authority by letting its decision on Rosado’s promotion be influenced by extraneous considerations it ought not to have considered. The Judge highlighted that, though the Commissioner of Police recommended that Rosado be promoted with an effective date of July 1, 2022, and the CEO for Home Affairs recommended that the effective date be July 1, 2021, Jones did not argue that the recommendation of the CEO be disregarded. Justice Hondora therefore concluded that he had not been provided with enough facts to prove that the Commission took into consideration extraneous factors regarding Rosado’s promotion.

While Justice Hondora holds that Jones did not demonstrate he had a right to make representation to the Commission regarding someone else’s promotion, he is of the view that Jones is entitled to be given reasons as to why his promotion was not backdated to an earlier date as was his colleague’s. As such, the Security Services Commission has been ordered to write Jones within 30 days to provide such an explanation.

All parties are to bear their own costs. As to an appeal, Jones told Amandala he is yet to consult with his attorney.

(AMANDALA Ed. Note: It is eye-catching that the judge “ordered” that an explanation be provided to Jones by the Security Services Commission as to why his “promotion was not backdated to an earlier date as was his colleague’s.” This is concerning for the public, considering that the Commissioner of Police’s recommendation that the “effective date” of Rosado’s promotion be “July 1, 2022,” was over-ridden by the CEO with an “effective date” of “July 1, 2021,” which materially paved the way for Rosado to be chosen over Jones for the Commissioner post.)