GOB wins case over tenure of judges

Wednesday, October 14^th, 2015. Aaron Humes Reporting: The last session of the Court of Appeal closed today in Belize City. The schedule was lighter in this session as the Court dealt mostly with criminal appeals.

Today it handed down a decision in a case dating back to June of 2014 between the Government and the Bar Association having to do with security of tenure for judges of the Court, which GOB attempted to deal with via the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 2008.

The amendment sought to close the gap for judges whose instruments did not specify how long they were to sit on the Court of Appeal but the Association challenged this and back in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor.

The government promised to fight against the decision in the Court of Appeal, selecting Senior Counsel Michael Young to represent G.O.B. and today it was announced that they won the appeal.

Young says the decision ensures that the Government can set the term at which judges with non-defined terms can serve. He says there is no pressure on judges appointed for short periods to favour certain entities over others.

The Bar was represented by Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.

© 2015, BreakingBelizeNews.com. Content is copyrighted and requires written permission for reprinting in online or print media. Theft of content without permission/payment is punishable by law.