Last night, we showed you the second ceremonial opening of the Supreme Court which had to take place virtually.
The ceremony is held annually on the second Monday in January - but this year - due to the COVID virtual staging, it was held on the third Monday.
And for 2021, the Magistrate Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal all had to struggle with missing members of the bench after some judges or magistrates either reached retirement age or resigned to pursue other professional opportunities.
Last year, the serving magistrates had to rotate to serve in different districts to fill that void. Yesterday, in her remarks, the Acting Chief Justice noted that 5 Magistrates have been appointed to replace those who vacated the posts:
Hon. Michelle Arana - Acting Chief Justice
"Magistrates throughout the country have been sharing the workload of many courts, commuting back and forth between the districts, delivering justice to various sectors of the country. Districts such as Toledo and Corozal have been without a magistrate for several months, and I, therefore, take this opportunity to thank each of those magistrates who have dutifully traveled back and forth for several hundred miles on a weekly basis, in an effort to ensure that citizens are not left without recourse to the judicial system. I am therefore pleased to be able to see that we have been able to recruit five additional magistrates to serve on the bench in Belize."
Hon. Sharon Frazer - Chief Magistrate
"During 2021, we lost several magistrates, including Magistrate Emerson Bonner, who retired in April of that year, Magistrate Khadeen Palma, who resigned in June to take up a judicial appointment in the British Virgin Islands. I do want to acknowledge their contribution and services that they both give to the magistracy of Belize and by extension, the government and people of Belize. We also temporarily lost Magistrate Deborah Rogers, who is presently pursuing a master's in law in London. We, however, gained the services of Magistrate Margaret McKenzie, Magistrate Audrey Grinage, Magistrate Kiana Gordon, Senior Magistrate Baja Shoman, Magistrate Sharmaine McCoy."
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