Court Restructuring Also Coming

In its Blu manifesto, the P.U.P. Administration promised to restructure the court system. According to the Attorney General, that restructuring is now coming on stream. She explained the new system, and how it will compare to other countries in the region.

Magali Marin-Young

Magali Marin-Young, Attorney General of Belize

“Firstly, it is proposed that the Supreme Court to be renamed Belize’s High Court, since it is a misnomer to call it the Supreme Court, when it is not our apex court. Under a newly restructured Court of Appeal, and a new High Court, there is to be a Chief Justice whose judicial functions are to be re-cast to administratively supervise the performance of all High Court and Court of Appeal judges, and allowing for him or her to sit on either court from time to time, in important matters of his or her choosing. Other countries in the region have restructured their system along these lines, such as the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the Barbados Supreme Court, which comprises both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and the Trinidad and Tobago High Court and Court of Appeal. In these jurisdictions there is one judicial leader for both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, namely a Chief Justice. Similarly, under the proposed restructuring, there is to be one judicial leader, namely the Chief Justice, who will head both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and who will be assisted by two senior judges, one in the civil division and the other in the criminal division.”