7 News Belize

Supreme Court Opens; Hemorrhages Identified
posted (January 12, 2015)
Today, as is the tradition, the Supreme Court held it's Ceremonial re-opening as it usually does on the second Monday of January every year.

This is third opening that Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin presided over as the Chief Justice of Belize. It's an opportunity for the Judiciary to report to the general public on how its handling civil and criminal cases filed in the court system.

Today's report was filled with the usual tales of woe, but also an outline of possible fixes for a justice system riddled with inefficiencies. Our News Team was there for the ceremony, and Daniel Ortiz reports:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The Judiciary, Legal Fraternity, and several VIP's all gathered at the Wesley Methodist Church for the 1 hour service.

At its completion, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin, flanked by his brother and sister judges of the Supreme Court, all lined up, with the attorneys bringing up the rear. They marched through the downtown streets, giving pedestrians and bystanders a fleeting and rare glance at the faces of these legalists who wield great authority within the state.

From there, Chief Justice Benjamin inspected the Honor Guard, and then, everyone made their way to his court room where he formally addressed the gathering.

Justice Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice of Belize
"Once again, we gather for the rendering of the stewardship of the judiciary; the third pillar of government, task by the constitution with an independent and important function of adjudicating upon civil and criminal matters."

The Chief Justice then proceeded to report on important judicial activities from last year. An emphasis was placed on the number of cases filed in the Supreme Court.

Justice Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice of Belize
"During the course of the year 2014, 778 new matters were filed inclusive petitions of bail and other petitions. Our records show that 786 cases were disposed of in the matrimonial division, 315 divorce petitions were filed and 258 of the same were disposed of. The disposal rate of cases continues to be unsatisfactory largely due to lengthy trials punctuated by voidier inquiries into the admissibility of admission and confessions. In 2013, the conviction rate was peg at 39%, which although generally above the acceptable general average, was solid by there being only an 8% conviction rate for murders. The remand population at the central prison remains at unacceptably high numbers, notwithstanding a drastic improvement in 2014. Although the total remand population has fall by 27% from 510 persons to 370 persons. The numbers of persons awaiting trial in the Supreme Court has only been reduced by 8. Of the remaining remandees awaiting their trial in the Supreme Court, 17 of them or 9% have been in custody for more than 5 years. Also, 40% of the total number have been on remand for more than 2 years."

The Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin spoke for 36 minutes, and then Eamon Courtenay, the President of the Bar Association, took the mic and addressed the issues most important to the legal community.

Eamon Courtenay - President of the Bar Association
"My lord, there are 3 particular issues that the Bar Association continues to be very concerned about. The first is the delay in the delivery of judgment. A matter to which I had referred last year. There has been noticeable improvement. There has been an increase in the speed in the delivery of judgments. However, we would urge the court to continue to grapple with the back log of judgments that remains outstanding. Secondly, it is approaching one year that the general legal council has not met. That is simply unacceptable. Complaints continue to mount. Complainants are becoming restless. It is unacceptable that persons who are supposed to be serve by attorneys at law, file complaints and cannot get a hearing."

Courtenay was hypercritical of the Court of Appeal's performance last year

Eamon Courtenay - President of the Bar Association
"The court of appeal; my lord, members of the judiciary, the bar association wishes to on record it serious concern about the state of affairs in the court of appeal. The last session of the court of appeal was historic in it's under performance. For the first time in history, or as far as I am aware, there was not a single criminal appeal heard. That is unacceptable. In the same side, there were a record low number of civil appeals heard."

Hon. Wilfred Elrington - Attorney General
"I would like to say that I faithfully promise to bring it to the attention of the Prime Minister. It is a matter which is really above my personal pay grade, but I will certainly bring it to his attention with alacrity."

That was one of the few light moments of today's ceremony, because the Attorney General, like the speakers before him, focused significantly to the failures of the justice system.

Hon. Wilfred Elrington - Attorney General
"We in government are naturally and particularly troubled by the back log of cases for resolution both the civil and criminal calendars of cases. We fully subscribe to the view that justice delayed is justice denied and that delays and denials of justice can and do have on occasions catastrophic consequences for business enterprises large and small, for innocence citizens who made to languish in prison on remand for inordinate periods of time. Increasingly, a number of youthful citizens who find themselves in possession of conflict are opting to take the law into their own hands to resolve these conflicts. A number of cooperate citizens as well are opting to have their judicator of their civil disputes done in extra territorial jurisdiction. And our own attorneys are inter alia from time to time now inviting judges to recuse themselves from adjudicating cases in which they are involve on the grounds of bias. With the advent of globalization, the information age and social media, it is now common place for the ordinary citizen to ventilate their every grievance of the internet. Their demand for instant gratification is at an all-time high and no one is immune from their criticism and vitriol, neither politician nor judges nor priests. In such a climate my lord, it is very plausible that the very difficult task of dispensing justice in a timely manner would become even more difficult in our jurisdiction."

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