7 News Belize

“Brother Barrow” Resigns From Court Of Appeal
posted (January 25, 2011)
It came as a surprise around noon today when news broke that Justice Denys Barrow had very suddenly resigned from the Court Of Appeal after only 18 months on the bench.

Barrow was to have served until the age of 75 - and he is only 59 - but he today announced that he is returning to private practice - after his resignation takes effect on February 28th.

Why? Well, the explanation offered by Barrow himself in a detailed statement is that, quote, (look down): "The decision stems from the refusal of the Government of St Lucia to pay pension benefits due to me upon my retirement, two years ago, as a Court of Appeal judge in the Eastern Caribbean….the Government of St Lucia…has been simply ignoring the claim…."

It continues:

"…I later decided I could afford to leave private practice and become a judge in Belize because I treated the expected pension benefits as part of my financial resources. That expectation having been removed, I must now adjust. Hence, my decision to return to practice".

So there it is, Barrow is leaving the highest court in the land basically because he can't afford to stay on. In leaving after a year and a half, he thanks the Government of Belize for the honour of the appointment, and bigs up his brother, the Prime Minister, saying, quote, "It took courage for the Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow, to appoint his brother to the judiciary and no less courage for the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. John Briceno, to support that appointment. I salute them."

A graceful departure capped off by an expression of confidence in the first Belizean President of the court, Manuel Sosa. But it's not all that tidy. Barrow's tenure which started in August of 2009 suffered a setback in March of 2010, when his brother judges on the Court Of Appeal found that there was the appearance of bias in a case involving the Public Utilities Commission, which his son Kimano sits on. Going forward from there it was clear that Justice Barrow would have difficulty sitting on weighty matters involving the Government because it may be seen to involve his brother, The Prime Minister - and again raise the possibility of appearance of bias.

It was an unfortunate outcome for the man considered to be Belize's most eminent homegrown jurist.

And now, Barrow is moving on…and as he does, it will be a matter of some interest to see if the highly regarded senior counsel, now in private practice, will take on any of government's litigation load.

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