Photo: Sharon Fraser, outgoing Chief Magistrate

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 20, 2023

With current Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser heading into retirement in a few weeks, it was expected that her successor would Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford, who has served as a magistrate in the country for over 20 years.

However, the Government of Belize may have other plans, as our sources say they will appoint a foreigner, a Sri Lankan, to the post.

When Amandala attempted to reach out to Chief Magistrate Fraser and the president of the Public Service Union of Belize, Dean Flowers, for a comment about the situation, our efforts were futile, as Fraser was unavailable for comment, and Flowers has yet to respond to our request.

But during an interview with 7News, Fraser noted that Magistrate Ford was trained to be her successor in the post, but was overlooked and was informed that she would not be appointed to the post via a letter.

“Senior Magistrate Ford, I have been pulling her along with me in terms of full succession planning, um, since unlike other jurisdictions there is no guarantee that from the government you will be considered for the upper bench. So, at the very least, those magistrates who are here, at least they should expect that at some point in time, they can be considered to head the magistracy if it is they can’t look forward to being considered for the upper bench,” Fraser said.

“…in the case of Magistrate Ford, she was a lay magistrate. She went, she qualified herself and then she became a magistrate; and then later on she was then elevated to the senior magistrate and the [most] senior of the three senior magistrates. I feel the legitimate expectation is that after you would have served 20 years on the bench, that at least due consideration has been given to the only next stage that magistrates have to look forward to,” she added.

PSU president Dean Flowers, in commenting last week on the reported appointment of a foreigner to the Chief Magistrate post, remarked, “… It’s a travesty what’s happening in the judicial system and the way they are treating Belizeans in that system. It’s unfair and it is for again, the officers who work under that ministry to continue to voice their discontent when they see fit, because clearly no one is serving their best interest.”