?I have every confidence that Justice Arana will measure up to the standards expected of a judge,? he said. ?She is no stranger to the administration of justice in Belize. She has until only last year held the substantive position of Registrar of the Courts, after which she was acting Judge of the Supreme Court. Her swearing-in just a moment ago now confirms her in the position of Her Ladyship, Justice Michelle Arana, Judge of the Supreme Court of Belize.?

The two main challenges he identified are ??the need for equal representation of the parties [in a case]?[and] the perennial inadequacy of resources and its implications for judicial independence.?

Money allocated to administer the justice system is adequate. According to Justice Conteh, the judiciary receives $4.2 million, or 0.86% of the national budget.

?All in all, funding of the administration of justice in Belize is decidedly at a low point. This portends serious consequences for the rule of law, on which so much depends,? he said. ?I think the time has come to take a fresh look at the needs and requirements of the judiciary and see how these can be properly funded. The present system in which the finance officer in the Registry often says there are no funds or insufficient funds to meeting ordinary and legitimate requests will no longer do.?

The less than 1% allocated to the administration of justice pays for salaries, emoluments, operational costs such as maintenance services, traveling and subsistence and office supplies.

Apart from the financial constraints, he also identified human resource constraints?particularly the need for more judges?as a major concern.

CJ Conteh also made an appeal to all sectors of society to help attack the scourge of crime.

?The root causes of crimes, of course, should be addressed and remedied. Poverty, lack of opportunity, unemployment, neglect and other socio-economic malaise, no doubt, provide the incubating environment for most crimes and the breeding grounds for criminals,? said Chief Justice Conteh. ?The responsibility of the government in devising and applying appropriate socio-economic policies and actions; the responsibility of the family or the home in providing a caring nurturing and stimulating, but disciplined environment; the responsibility of the school in providing that indispensable character-building and disciplined environment; and the steadfast moral leadership of religious and community leaders, are all necessary factors that can help attenuate the pernicious rise in crime.?

He also remarked on the new rules of the Supreme Court, which have been in place since April 4, 2005, doing away with the old rules that had been in place for at least 80 years.

He remarked that, ??apart from the passage of time, it is now unarguable that the old Supreme Court Rules gave rise to problems and technicalities which did not conduce to the prompt and efficacious administration of civil justice. The old rules placed litigants and their attorneys in the driving seat, as it were, leaving the courts to march to their tempo.?

The new rules ?de-mystify litigation by simplifying it and thereby making the process of going to Court less cumbersome, less expensive and more speedy in terms of the resolution of the cases that eventually do go to trial,? CJ Conteh added.

With respect to events on the national front, he also commented on the spate of unrest in 2005: ?The year that has just ended was a trying one for the Belizean society at nearly every level. We witnessed public demonstrations, go-slow, strikes and agitation and what could be fairly described as a riot just a stone?s throw from the Supreme Court, resulting in serious damage and loss to some commercial houses.?

The fabric of Belizean society was severely tested, but Belize survived the test as a democratic society, he affirmed.

?There will always be differences of opinion in any polity. Indeed, the clash and conflict of opinion is good for society as long as it remains a peaceful one and within the bounds of law,? he advised. ?To the credit of everyone, even in the midst of the various protests, no one really seriously or deliberately broke the law. And where this was done, there was swift recourse to the arbitrament of the law.?

He also announced that the Treasury Building, now under renovation, would soon be home for the Magistrate?s Court, the Family Court and parts of the Supreme Court. The Treasury Department, which occupied the Treasury Building, moved to the Central Bank building on Gaol Lane in late 2005.

The Magistrate?s Courts have been in temporary quarters since the Paslow Building, where the courts were located, burned down in 2002.

CJ Conteh also appealed to the Government to develop a comprehensive Bail Act, since the only recourse presently is, ?ad hoc and hotchpotch provisions of the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act.

?The anxiety and confusion were recently highlighted by the brouhaha surrounding the grant of bail to an accused by a magistrate even after refusal by a judge of the Supreme Court. This was an unfortunate and regrettable occurrence. I have been assured that it will not happen again,? he remarked.

On another positive note, the CJ commended the management of Kolbe Foundation for its management of the Hattieville Prison.

CJ Conteh read no statistics for the past legal year, but said that they would be in his annual report, which, he said, is due to be published shortly.