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So, our news team attended the special sitting of the Supreme Court today to find out if the boycott had any effect on the ceremony itself. Daniel Ortiz reports:

The Ceremonial Opening of the Supreme Court began, as it normally does, with a church service, which was held at the Saint John's Cathedral on Regent Street.

Many of the usual VIP's, including the judges of the Supreme Court, the Magistrate's and the court staff that all made up the judiciary were in attendance.

They were joined as well by members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps.

There was even a significant number of lawyers who participated, but we did notice that several senior attorneys did not show up. Among those absent was DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, the President of the Bar Association. Viewers are aware that she, the Bar's executive and other senior members had decided to boycott the ceremony.

Still, it continued as normal, and the boycott was only slightly visible by the empty seats in the Chief Justice's courtroom.

The Chief Justice gave a 35-minute presentation to provide a brief accounting of 0.95% of the country's national budget that was allocated to the judiciary in the last fiscal year. Among the topics discussed was the replacement of judges who have retired, or are about to reach retirement age.

Hon. Kenneth Benjamin - Chief Justice
"With the retirement of Justices Troadio Gonzalez, Adolph Lucas, and Denis Hanomansingh in December 2017 and December 2018, on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, His Excellency, the Governor-General, has been pleased to accept the recommendations with the concurrence of the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of the appointments of the Hon. Madam Justice Marilyn Williams, Hon. Mr. Justice Francis Cumberbatch, the Hon. Mr. Justice Colin Williams as justices of the Supreme Court. These justices enjoy full tenure and are assigned to the criminal division. To say that given the state of the list of criminal cases in Belize City and the Southern Session, the justices were forced to hit the ground running would be a gross understatement. Hon. Madam Justice Shona Griffith has tendered her resignation to His Excellency, the Governor-General, to take effect from the 31st of January, 2020."

"In the course of 2020, 3 justices and I will attain the retirement age of 65. The process of succession lies within the province of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and the Hon. Prime Minister, within the constraints of the constitution, and is being addressed."

"The complement of magistrates remain below the required amount, notwithstanding an advertisement to fill vacancies. So, once again, I issue a call to all attorneys at law to offer their services."

He then gave a snapshot of the workload facing the judges in both the criminal and civil divisions:

Hon. Kenneth Benjamin
"In the civil division, a grand total of 1,482 proceedings were commenced in the Supreme Court. These included 392 divorces filed during the same period of 2019. 356 decree nisi orders were issued during the same period, and the rate of disposition is not yet available. It is, however, noteworthy that these filings yielded an aggregate revenue of $237,958.50."

"The work of the judges of the criminal division has been very heartening when the disposal numbers are viewed. Last year, I highlighted the number of cases traversed from previous judges. In summary, in Belize, sitting in the Belize District 94 cases were disposed of in 1 court, with a list of 44 cases awaiting trial in 2020. Also in Belize City, a further 25 cases were concluded, leaving a list of 108 cases traversed to January 2020. In the Northern Session, 23 cases were disposed of, and there remain 43 pending cases. In the Central District, in Belmopan, the list stands at 91 pending cases, however, notwithstanding an epic trial lasting over the period of 6 months, 37 cases were disposed of. In the Southern Session, 41 were disposed of in Dangriga, and 5 cases in Punta Gorda. The pending cases stand at 27 and 8 for Dangriga and Punta Gorda respectively."

But, the Chief Justice continues to acknowledge those defendants who are languishing in prison on remand, while they await trial.

Hon. Kenneth Benjamin
"The records of the Central Prison show a reduction in the number of persons on remand from the Supreme Court, obviously predominantly for murder, to stand at 109 as of December 31st, 2019. That is in comparison to 182 as of December 31, 2018. That is a significant reduction indeed, however, there are 22 inmates who have been on remand for in excess of 4 years. In as much as this represents an improvement over the number of 60 in 2018, it still remains 22 persons too many. It is the target of the criminal division that such lengthy remands will be further reduced in 2020."

The court has been trying to give more equitable access to those indigent defendants who can't afford to hire attorneys to intercede on their behalf.

Hon. Kenneth Benjamin
"Having regard to the inability of many inmates on remand being unable to afford legal representation to apply for bail, the Supreme Court initiated a process to address this de facto denial of access to justice. Accordingly, the unrepresented litigants on remand can now complete a form swear to its contents in order to petition the Supreme Court for bail. Thus far, the process has met its purpose, and it is being progressively refined to meet the requirements of the soon-to-be-operationalized prison to the court video link."

After the Chief Justice finished his presentation, the next speaker would have been DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal as the President of the Bar.

But, since she boycotted, the next speaker for today's ceremony was Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington. He was filling in Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte.