The Supreme Court of Belize opened for its first session in 2012 today.
As usual, the members of the Bench and the Bar congregated for mass, which was this year held at 9:00 a.m. at the Wesley Methodist church on #75 Albert Street to mark the opening of the legal year.
After the service, the judges, magistrates, prosecutors, practicing attorneys and court staff took their places in the procession headed by Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin, of Guyana, which went down Albert Street and then unto Regent Street to the Supreme Court in front of Battlefield Park.
Chief Justice Benjamin inspected the guard of honor, and then all proceeded to Courtroom No. 1 for the annual review address of the Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Benjamin officially took the bench as the head of the Supreme Court when he was sworn in as the new Chief Justice for Belize on September 15, 2011.
The C.J. mentioned and commended the work of predecessor, acting Chief Justice, Samuel Awich, as well as the work of other members and support staff of the Court and Judiciary, in his opening remarks.
As in previous years, the Chief Justice pointed out that the allocation of financial resources continues to be a constraint on the work and development of the Supreme Court.
From this year’s budget of $729 million, the Judiciary’s allocation is just $7,891,108 – 1.08% of the total, and “just a very slight increase” from previous years, said the Chief Justice, who nonetheless made the Bench’s annual plea for greater resources to fulfill its mandate.
After some instability in 2010, the Bench passed 2011 without any changes in its complement of 9 judges, 4 in the criminal jurisdiction and five in the civil jurisdiction.
The Court, however, welcomed a Deputy Registrar and Registrar for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Aldo Reyes, who moves over from the Family Court, and an Assistant Registrar, Marcia Mohabir.
A review committee is soon to be established to court suggestions for amendments to the Civil Procedure and Supreme Court Rules, the Chief Justice announced.
To tackle the ongoing problem of a high volume of criminal cases involving violence, and the resulting inability to dispose of these in time, Chief Justice Benjamin announced plans to formulate rules for case management and presentation in the criminal jurisdiction.
He said that the Judiciary can no longer proceed with “business as usual” in light of the escalating crime rate, and that the response of the country’s judicial officials must be one that satisfies the community at large, while preserving the right of any accused to fairness and justice.
He also noted that part of the problem is the paucity of available attorneys to defend accused criminals, at great expense to the State.
Trial without jury, which was approved last June by the Executive and Parliament, is expected to commence in this legal term, and the C.J. said he would make himself available to assist in this regard.
Belize saw its first trials at the CCJ last year, as its term with the Privy Council wound down. And there was also change in the Magistracy, as Belizean Margaret Gabb-McKenzie stepped down at the end of September, and was replaced by Jamaican Ann-Marie Smith.
The complement of Magistrates stands at 15, including three new Senior Magistrates, and another six are away on study leave in the United Kingdom and Jamaica.
A new Magistrate’s Court is close to completion in Independence Village, Stann Creek District, which will address the needs of the surrounding area, and a formal orientation program and Bench Book will be established for the use of newly appointed magistrates.
The C.J. also detailed continuing efforts at judicial education for Belize’s judicial officers.
Unusually, there was no mention of the statistics of cases filed and resolved at each level of the court. It is expected that these will form part of the Annual Report.
It was then the turn of Jacqueline Marshalleck, president of the Bar Association, to make her presentation.
Answering charges that the judicial system is “broken,” the Bar President recorded pleasure at the efforts of the Government to address judicial personnel at all levels, save and except in the issue of salaries, which remains somewhat unattractive.
The challenge now, she said, is to translate that input into better performance. The year 2012, she said, must now be more about “quality, as opposed to quantity.”
President Marshalleck noted an increase in appeals to the Court of Appeal, questioning whether there is still some lack of confidence in the decisions being made, or possibly, just a question of more claims being filed in the court below, and asking that it be dealt with “sooner rather than later,” to avoid backlog.
In the criminal jurisdiction, she called for the “A-game” of all stakeholders: police, prosecutors and judges, especially now with trial without jury in play.
The President called for continued dialogue, warning that Belize can win the crime war “fairly and without reducing our moral compass to those of the criminals we try so hard to fight.”
She concluded that the work continues to restore the faith of Belizeans in the legal system.
The gathering closed with an address from Attorney General, B.Q. Pitts, summarizing the Government’s efforts in the realm of the Judiciary in 2011.
Formal business begins tomorrow, Tuesday, in the Central Division.