7 News Belize

In Belize, we've already come to accept the Caribbean Court of Justice as this country's final court of appeal. And indeed, Belize was one of the first to adopt the court as its final appellate court, joining Barbados and Guyana.
But the wider Caribbean is still largely resisting the move from the privy council And so, the Caribbean Court of Justice is relying on the dissemination of public information, getting the word out that the CCJ is functioning effectively and that it benefits ordinary citizens.
This pitch was made to journalists and media workers from throughout the Caribbean, Commonwealth and other countries who are in Trinidad for a conference this week.
Port of Spain is where the court is headquartered, so the judges held a press conference - which in Belize would be unthinkable. They freely discussed a wide range of issues, and in the end the President of the CCJ, Sir Dennis Byron gave an address touching on some of the court's accomplishments.

He cited a case form Belize as one of the benchmark judgments from the CCJ:..

Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron, President of CCJ
"The case of Florencio Marin and Jose Coye against the Attorney General of Belize - it was address a very interesting issue. Can the Attorney General acted on behalf of the state bring an action in thought for misfeasance in public office? The factual background was that two former ministers of government were alleged to have transferred 56 parcels of land to a company beneficially owned by one of them for a consideration well below the market value."

"The case was in the preliminary stages when the CCJ ruled that there was a cause of action (that is that the case could proceed to be heard). In the presentation it appeared that no one could find that this question had ever been raised before. The Consular admitted that there was no judicial precedence. So already in a short lifetime the CCJ has an opportunity to be a leader under a subject of significant importance."

In the CCJ's appellate jurisdiction, between July 2005 and June 2012 there have been 94 matters filed. From Belize there have been 6 applications for special leave to appeal and 5 civil appeals - fewer than both Barbados and Guyana.