7 News Belize

A Solider and A Lawyer
posted (December 22, 2015)
This morning, the court room of Justice Courtney Abel was crowded with Belize Defence Force Soldiers. They were there with their commander, General David Jones, to see one of their own, Lt. Lionel Olivera, take the oath of a practicing attorney in Belize.

Olivera is the first soldier in the BDF's history to become a trained attorney at law, and after the ceremony, we spoke to him about this important milestone in his carrier:

Lt. Lionel Olivera, Esq. First Soldier Called to the Bar
"In the practice of law as an attorney at law and according to the best of my knowledge, skill and ability in accordance with the laws of Belize so help me God."

"Today for me is an overwhelming experience. A very prideful day of course. I am humbled by it. It's a 5 year journey that has finally ended. I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Initially the reason why I actually decide to go and study law was because we had an incident in the Belize Defence Force where one of our soldiers had shot someone and he ended up was charged by the court by manslaughter. And I believe that the BDF could have done more in terms of assisting him. So that struck a chord in me and I said why we didn't do much more. So I decided I will send in my application and I was successful at that and here I am now."

Brig. Gen. David Jones, Commander - BDF
"This a very proud moment for me and also for the Belize Defence Force. Not just proud, but very historic because it's the first time that we had a serving officer of the Belize Defence Force being called to the bar. So congratulations are in order to Lt. Olivera, to his family and it's a good day for the Belize Defence Force and its very good for our soldiers now to have a practicing attorney, so he can better guide us and not just the soldiers, but also myself. Because never in the history before we had a serving member of the Force being a lawyer to guide and advise the commander of the Belize Defence Force who conducts all the trials for the soldiers. It's a first. So he is better trained in legal issues and better trained in the law. I conduct the trials in accordance with the defence act and he is more familiar with it and can better advised me on how to conduct myself in the trials and how to be more impartial and provide more justice for our soldiers."

"He will be getting an additional specialist pay, because he has a special skill now that is required for the Force and there is always a salary additional for people who have special skills we give them special pay a well."

Olivera will head the BDF's Legal Department, which will be involved in the discipline of the soldiers who are accused of breaching the code of ethics of the military.

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