Bar Association on Leslie Mendez’s Complaint against Belize Central Prison

The role of an Attorney-at-Law in representing those who are incarcerated at the Belize Central Prison is pivotal to upholding the constitutional rights of those being represented and is crucial to ensuring the rule of law.

It is recognized that prisons, including the Belize Central Prison, uphold a visitors’ dress code primarily for security reasons and it is recognized that attorneys are not excluded from abiding by the dress code.

The Bar Association acknowledges the recent complaint of Attorney Ms. Leslie Mendez that she was disallowed access to the Belize Central Prison to meet with her incarcerated clients on account of her attire, which she says was in line with the prison’s dress code. While the Bar Association cannot take a position regarding the details of the complaint, it is important for us to state that it would be gravely concerning if the Belize Central Prison, or any of its employees, used underhanded and veiled tactics to undermine the legal rights of incarcerated prisoners, especially their right to speak with their legal representatives.

The rules of the Belize Central Prison are not to be used to humiliate legal representatives or to detract from meaningful representation of those incarcerated. The Bar Association hopes that the Belize Central Prison will properly address the complaint of Ms. Mendez so that there is no recurrence of this or any similar incidents.

(Press release)