by Roy Davis (freelance writer)
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 9, 2024
With effect from December 2, 2024, Senior Crown Counsel Sheneiza Smith, 38, will be serving as Deputy Director of Public Prosecution.
Smith, originally from Guyana, migrated to Belize in March 2011. She began working at the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) as a Crown Counsel, and in 2015 she was promoted to the post of Senior Crown Counsel.
“The promotion is the recognition for dedication for prosecution and it will provide me with stronger and better opportunity to improve prosecution in Belize,” said Smith.
She also said that although the promotion means more work and more responsibility, she is ready to take on the challenge.
“I like working in Belize, and I have no intention of going back to Guyana,” she said.
During her tenure at the office of the DPP, she has successfully prosecuted both capital and non-capital matters in the High Court.
Since 2016, she has argued appeals before the Belize Court of Appeal.
In 2018, she successfully argued her first appeal before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in the case of Dionicio Salazar versus The Queen, and more recently in the case of Tevin Andrewin in the same court.
Between 2012 and 2019, she was an adjunct lecturer at the University of Belize (UB), where she taught Labour Law, Constitutional Law, Probate and Succession, Equity and other law- related courses.
She is originally from the village of Plaisance, located on the east coast of Demerara, Guyana.
She is the daughter of Michael Smith and Sharon Rollox and the younger sister of Sonita Smith.
Her academic journey began at Graham’s Hall Primary School, following which she gained a place at St. John’s College after she excelled in the common entrance exam. While at St. John’s College, she learned that achieving 70% or above could result in a transfer to a better high school; and she completed her fourth and fifth form education before going to Bishops High School, where she completed her lower and upper sixth forms, and she was awarded the law prize for being the best performing law student.
In 2007, she started the LLB program at the University of Guyana. The following year she was the joint recipient of the Anne Blue Memorial award for the best performing second year student.
In 2009, she graduated with distinction, and she obtained her Legal Education Certificate with honors from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad. Also, she received the RBTT prize for the Law of Succession.
After she graduated from law school, she began her working career at DeSantos and Associates under the mentorship of Bernard DeSantos, Senior Counsel, a close friend of her grandfather.
“His guidance and confidence in me were instrumental in shaping my career,” she said.
In October 2024, she graduated from Cave Hill University with a Master’s degree in Legislative Drafting with distinction. In addition to that, she successfully completed the New York Bar exam in 2022.