OPENING OF THE 2010 SUPREME COURT SESSION

UNCLAS BELMOPAN 000053


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV BH
SUBJECT: OPENING OF THE 2010 SUPREME COURT SESSION

REF: BELMOPAN 305


1. SUMMARY: On January 18, 2010, the formal opening of the Supreme
Court was marked by a church ceremony and addresses delivered by
Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh (CJ) and Attorney General and Foreign
Minister Wilfred Elrington (AG). In their statements, the CJ and AG
sought to end tensions from 2009, as well as to review the 2009
performance of the judiciary. Both speakers talked about challenges
of the year ahead, specifically the expected decreases in available
resources, the possible changes to Supreme Court judges, and the
impending enactment and implementation of accession to the Caribbean
Court of Justice. END SUMMARY.

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Judicial Tensions in 2009
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2. The formal opening of the legal year of the Supreme Court was
held on January 18, 2010. The 2010 opening ceremony speakers sought
to bury minor strains among the judiciary, the Attorney General and
the Bar Association. At the opening of last year's session, CJ
Conteh was critical of the recurrent underfunding of the judiciary
stating that it failed to "reflect the important role expected of
the judiciary in national affairs." In a scathing response, AG
Elrington lamented the long delays in the issuance of judgments and
noted that members of the judiciary are among the most highly paid
public officers. In September 2009, the Belize Bar Association
echoed the AG's criticism when it publicly expressed discontent over
delayed judgments and even called for the resignation of Supreme
Court Judge Samuel Awich. The most recent address of the CJ
highlights the improved performance of the judiciary in working its
2009 caseload and called for a more constructive approach in
tackling the problems facing the judiciary. For his part, the AG
apologized publicly for his comments the previous year.

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Budget Cuts
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3. The CJ, nevertheless, restated his plea for additional resources
to support the judiciary. In making a case, the CJ quoted George
Washington saying that "the true administration of justice is the
firmest pillar of good government." The CJ's appeal, however, comes
during a recessionary period when GOB expects to undertake
across-the-board budget cuts. For the fiscal year 2009-2010, the
budget allocation to the judiciary represented 1.03% of the national
budget. For the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the budget allocation to the
judiciary is expected to decrease by 10% from BZ $7.09 million (US $
3.545 million) to approximately BZ $6.38 million (US $3.19 million).


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Judges for the Superior Court
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4. The Superior Courts, which currently have a complement of 14
judges, are comprised of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
Five judges are appointed to the Court of Appeal with the other nine
judges, including the Chief Justice, being appointed to the Supreme
Court. While the AG announced that the complement of judges to the
Supreme Court will soon be strengthened with the arrival of two more
judges from Australia, speculation abounds on whether the CJ will be
required to resign from office in 2010.


5. Under Belize's Constitution the Chief Justice is appointed by the
Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister after
consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. The Constitution
also provides for a Supreme Court judge to hold office until age
sixty-five with a possible extension to age seventy-five. There is
the precedent of two Supreme Court judges who are presently serving
beyond the prescribed retirement age. The CJ will celebrate his
sixty-fifth birthday in August of this year; however, it is unclear
if his service will be extended.

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Judicial Statistics
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6. The CJ also reported on the record number of cases which were
completed in 2009. The CJ highlighted that Supreme Court is
up-to-date for cases already heard with the exception of only three
recently concluded cases. In the Supreme Court, 2009 saw a record
number of 1,054 cases filed which is an increase of 19% over the 889
claims filed in 2008. The same court in 2009 completed 1,116 cases
while 742 cases were completed in 2008. Through the almost
simultaneous sitting of the Supreme Court in its three districts,
191 criminal cases were tried on indictment. In 2008, a total of 63
murder cases were tried in the Supreme Court; this number decreased
slightly to 56 murder cases tried in 2009. While only 29 cases of
attempted murder were tried in 2008, the number increased to 39
cases in 2009. In relation to sexual offenses of rape, carnal
knowledge, and unlawful carnal knowledge, 42 cases were tried in
2009, a decrease from 61 cases tried in 2008.


7. The Court of Appeal for the same period heard and disposed of 71
criminal and civil appeal cases. In 2008, 47 criminal cases were

lodged in the same court with 45 disposed. The Magistrates Court for
2009 was able to deal with 12,072 of the 15,590 criminal cases
lodged. Again this represented an improvement over 2008, when 15,043
criminal cases were lodged and 11,928 cases were completed. Overall,
the judicial statistics for 2009 suggest that despite an increased
work load and decreasing resources, the courts are making a serious
effort to complete cases.

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Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)
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8. In June 2009, GOB introduced a bill for a constitutional
amendment that would replace the Privy Council in London with the
CCJ as Belize's final appellate court (Ref A). At the recent opening
of the Supreme Court, AG Elrington reasserted GOB's commitment to
enact and implement accession to the CCJ by the end of 2010. The
proposed constitutional amendment for Belize to join the CCJ also
contains controversial elements. The proposal would allow members
of the National Assembly to have dual citizenship and would remove
the requirement for the Attorney General to be a member of the
National Assembly.


9. COMMENT: Given the complaints of the public in 2009, the
judiciary will be expected to continue improving its performance to
expeditiously deal with an increasing caseload. This will prove
challenging in light of rising crime rates and decreasing budget
allocations. Moreover, 2010 could be a transitional year for the
judiciary. At the national level, the addition of two judges is a
positive development. While it is unlikely that the CJ would be
required to vacate his post without a suitable replacement, any
change would likely cause additional adjustments. Public opinion
has been largely supportive of the CJ who is perceived as a sound
administrator and impartial adjudicator. Finally, the most
significant transition would be the accession to the appellate
jurisdiction of CCJ. For Belize, the link to the Privy Council
dates back to the late 1800's. The prospect of dropping affiliation
with the Privy Council and linking with the relatively new CCJ is
causing a high degree of uncertainty among Belizean legal
practitioners. END COMMENT.

THUMMALAPALLY