On Friday, the Government of Belize issued a press release formally announcing the retirement of Justice Elliot Mottley, 71, originally of Barbados, West Indies, from his presidency on the Belize Court of Appeal.
With the announcement, Belize’s Judiciary prepares for the second successive retirement of a senior jurist in as many months following the departure two weeks ago of Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh, who had reached the age of retirement.
It is also the second retirement of a Court of Appeal judge this year, following the retirement of Justice Boyd Carey, of Jamaica, this past March.
Justice Mottley was first appointed as a judge on the Court eleven years ago, and became its President in May of 2004. He has previously practiced elsewhere in the Caribbean and – like the former Chief Justice – currently sits on the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands.
The GOB release merely thanks the President for his services to Belize, wishes him a happy retirement, and states that the announcement of a new President “will be made later.”
According to local media reports a few weeks ago, President Mottley and Justice Dennis Morrison were recently put on one-year contracts after previously being granted instruments of appointment specifying lifetime tenure on the bench.
According to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, the decision and the tabling of an amendment to the Constitution providing for a specific term in office was to correct the alleged abuse engendered by keeping judges on the bench until they are not able to exercise their best judgment in deciding cases, but the Bar Association has charged that this violates their right to security of tenure and undermines the vaunted independence of the Judiciary and is challenging the matter in court.
(Justice Morrison, as reported in last Sunday’s Amandala, has been separately challenged in a matter involving accountant Cedric Flowers, in which it has been suggested that he may have had an apparent bias in his Court of Appeal ruling.)
Other current members of the Court include Justices Denys Barrow and Manuel Sosa, both Belizeans. Justice Brian Alleyne of Dominica was sworn in this past May, but heard only one case during a special session, and it is not clear if his appointment was permanent.
The Court of Appeal, which meets in Belize three times per year, is expected to close its last session for 2010 at the end of this week. There is no indication if there will be a special session of the Supreme Court to celebrate Justice Mottley’s retirement, as there was for Justice Carey and former Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh.