The Ceremonial Opening of the Supreme Court is one of the few events left that still projects a sense of old fashioned ceremony for its own sake.
It's held every year in January at the opening of the January session of the Supreme Court.
This year, New Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin had his first go at it.
Daniel Ortiz reports on how it went:..
Daniel Ortiz reporting
This year's opening of the Supreme Court started at the Wesley Methodist Church on Albert Street, where Supreme Court Justices, Attorneys, legal luminaries and other functionaries of the justice system gathered for the ecumenical service.
From there, it was on to the general procession of the Judges, Magistrates, and attorneys, an impressive march of about 75 persons.
They were led by the brisk musical pace of the Belize Defense Force marching band through Albert and Regent Streets, where they finally finished at the Court House.
It is one of the few times of the year where the public actually gets to see these high ranking officials who are known only by names and by the judicial decisions which are handed down.
Children from several primary schools took advantage of the opportunity to view them in their robes.
From there, the event continued with the presentation of the Supreme Court Justices; each was escorted to his/her respective positions by the acting Commissioner of Police.
The Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin, then descended the stairs of the seat of the judiciary.
From there he inspected the guard of honor, and then those gathered made their way up to his court room where the Chief Justice delivered his annual speech - the only time of the year cameras are allowed in the courtroom.
He discussed the difficulties currently facing the justice system.
According to Benjamin, Government allots only 1.08% of the National Budget to the judiciary, which is somewhat limited for the results required.
Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice
"The allocation of financial resources continues to be a constraining influence on the work and development of the Supreme Court. Indeed, the justice sector competes with the other critical areas of education, health, infrastructure, human and economic development and the all providing servicing of debt obligations."
"The approved allocation by central government to the judiciary during the fiscal year 2011 -2012 stands at $7,891,108 against a national budget of $729,553,334. The judiciary shares in 1.08% of the said national budget. This represents just a very slight increase over previous years. However, the projected demands I will outline in due course, a plea for a larger allocation would not be misplaced. The judiciary is charged with the constitutional responsibility of upholding the rule of law, and for the judiciary to fulfill this important mandate, adequate funding is of necessity - a requirement."
Due to the rise in the number of murder cases, the Chief Justice announced that he will be presiding over some of them in the interim.
Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice
"For a reason which will become apparent later on, the Chief Justice will be undertaking the hearing of certain criminal matters in the course of 2012 and perhaps beyond. The establishment makes provisions for additional judges to be appointed. This appointment will not be made in the coming year, and will be informed by the data that will emerge from a comprehensive statistical assessment of the case load and case disposal rate in both the criminal and civil divisions."
The Chief Justice also informed the gathering of the implementation of mediation services as a means to avoid the long and drawn-out process of a trial.
Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice
"The overriding objective of the Supreme Court civil procedure rules, mandates that the court must actively manage cases. Included among the powers given to a judge is the discretion, in appropriate cases, to encourage the parties to embark upon a process of alternative dispute resolution such as mediation. The rules go further to require the court to facilitate such procedures by accommodating deserving adjournments. Faithful to the rules, judges have been encouraging settlement discussions, and have, at times, assumed the role of informal mediator. In fulfillment of the purport and intent of the overriding objective, the time has come for the Supreme Court to adopt the multi-door approach to the resolution of disputes by offering to litigants mediation services under its hospices."
"For such an undertaking to be successful, the court must be vigilant in offering a process that is imbued with efficiency and integrity. Our ladyship, Madam Justice Hafiz Bertram, has kindly consented to give up her invaluable time to shepherd the creation and implementation of the assistance of mediation. I am aware that our ladyship has been examining designs operative in other jurisdictions, and she will be a co-opting suitable personnel from the judiciary, the bar and from the community to assist in developing a structured approach to mediation that is consistent with the morals and societal demands of the litigating public in Belize."
He also touched on improving the output of the judiciary's webpage to inform the public in a timely manner on judgments.
Chief Justice Benjamin also mentioned that the amendment to the constitution, which allows for trial without jury, will come on board in this legal year.
Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice
"As of August 1st 2011, all new cases of murder related offences committed to trial after that date, are trialable by a Supreme Court judge sitting alone, without a jury. Such trials are expected to commence during this term of the legal year. I've indicated to the judges of the criminal division that I will be sitting in on that division to assist with the trials by a judge sitting without a jury. This type of trial upon indictment represents a significant departure from the previous standard of trial by jury. As a bi-cord of this development, it means that the emerging phenomenon of jury intimidation and timidity, may well have been obviated."
In an effort to improve the expertise and knowledge of the bench, Chief Justice Benjamin announced the intention to implement a Judicial Education Body Development where Justice Arana will take the lead.
Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice
"It has become an undeniable fact that judicial education is indispensable to the competent administration of justice. In this regard, the high and low judiciary in Belize is in the somewhat disadvantageous position of not having a formal structure for the dispensing of programs for the training of judicial officers. It is therefore of high priority that a body task with judicial education be developed, in initial stages on a volunteer basis. Our ladyship, Madam Justice Arana is a fellow of the Common Wealth Judicial Education Institute, of which I have the honor of being a patron as well as a fellow. Justice Arana has been given the assignment of establishing a judicial education body for Belize."
Another bit of good news announced was that a new Magistrate's Court will be opened in Dangriga, which will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
He also mentioned that an annual report will be published in the weeks to come.
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