They say lightening doesn’t strike twice in the same place – but many court observers wondered if it would today. We’re talking about Attorney General Wilfred Elrington; last year at the Ceremonial Opening of the Supreme Court he lit up the judiciary, accusing judges and magistrates of under-performing. So would he do it again this year? Or would the Chief Justice fire a salvo in response? Those were the questions being asked on this, the third Monday in January which by tradition is set aside as the day for the ceremonial opening of the Supreme Court. But as Keith Swift reports the mood was more conciliatory than it was combative.

Keith Swift Reporting,
The Supreme Court session opened with a church service at the Holy Redeemer Cathedral. The Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist Bishops were present and so too were representatives from the Muslim community and the Salvation Army. After the short church service - it was unto the traditional pomp and pageantry of the Supreme Court’s ceremonial opening.

With Deputy Marshall Charles Humes in the lead, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh along with 6 Supreme Court Justices, and members of the Bar walked across the Swing Bridge, onto Albert Street, ending in front of the Supreme Court. A crowd of onlookers kept at bay in the Battlefield Park, watched as Chief Justice Conteh inspected a guard of honour.

And that was it for the ceremony. The event moved to the Chief Justice’s courtroom. And in what may have been his last speech as Chief Justice, Conteh began by criticizing government’s decision to cut the judiciary’s budget.

Dr. Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice
“I am advised that for the current year, 2010-2011, the judiciary was presented with a figure which itself marks a 10% reduction on last year’s allocation. There is of course the admitted economic recession and the consequent national financial shortfall which necessitates a belt tightening exercise across the board. This is understandable but we must caution the need for care so that the administration of justice is not crippled.”

And for a bench that was last year criticized last year by the bar for delays in judgement, Chief Justice Conteh flanked by 6 of his Supreme Court Justices - fired back, diplomatically.

Abdulai Conteh,
“Delays in the delivery of judgements is without doubt a cause for legitimate worry but the answer does not lie in some ill-advised attempt to subvert the judiciary by overtly trying to undermine public confidence in it. Rather a more productive, constructive and salutary approach would be collectively to search for and find ways to address the problem. I trust that this issue is now all water under the bridge.”

For the first year ever, the Chief Justice says that in 2009 the Supreme Court dealt with more than one thousand cases. He lamented that the spiralling crime rate has overwhelmed the courts.

Abdulai Conteh,
“The spiralling crime rate has resulted in the Supreme Court for the first time sitting in its criminal jurisdiction almost simultaneously in the three districts of the central, southern, and northern. A total of 56 cases for murder were tried in the Supreme Court with a total of 49 cases of attempted murder. Any visitor from Mars would think we are in the throws of a civil war.”

And the Chief Justice – who will reach retirement age this year – addressed the issue of his future on the bench.

Abdulai Conteh,
“In some quarters there has been some feverish speculation as to my demitting office as Chief Justice and talk of even a possible successor. For me as Chief Justice, it has been an honour and privilege to serve the people of Belize. When the time comes as constitutionally provided for in Belize for me to demit office, make no mistake I shall by God’s grace do so. I did in the course of my tenure and I continue to do right to all manner of people without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. This oath is epitomized by the artist in the figure of Lady Justice blindfolded and holding evenly the scale of justice.”

Attorney General Wilfred Elrington began his address with a quite stunning reversal of position: apologizing for his scathing address at last year’s ceremonial opening.

Hon. Wilfred Sedi Elrington, Attorney General
“I humbly beg that any unhappy remark I made be attributed solely to inadvertence, ignorance, and perhaps inexperience.”

He later amplified the apology and addressed questions about the future of Chief Justice Conteh.

Hon. Wilfred Sedi Elrington,
“I never saw myself as being in confrontation with the CJ or to be at war with him. I have very strong views on certain issues and he has very strong views on certain issues and I think maybe the tone of my speech last year was coloured by the anxiety and concern I had with the worsening financial situation. I meant no offense. No malice was intended.

The matter of the Chief Justice like with all judges is a matter exclusively for the Prime Minister. I can’t speak on it. It is really a matter for the Prime Minister. It is not the kind of thing that the Attorney General has authority to discuss or debate on.”

A major announcement from the AG was that within the next year – the Caribbean Court of Justice will replace the Privy Council as Belize’s court of last appeal.

Hon. Wilfred Sedi Elrington,
“By the time we have reassembled here next year for the opening of the law year for the year 2011, Belize should have abolished appeals to the Privy Council and accepted the Port of Spain based Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal.”

The AG and the CJ agree on the elevation of 6 attorneys to senior counsel status. Included are his brother Hubert Elrington as well as Godfrey Smith and Andrew Marshalleck.

Hon. Wilfred Sedi Elrington,
“I would like to join you in congratulating the members of the Bar who have been elevated, among them my very own brother. They are all eminently qualified.

I don’t think that there is any other attorney present in the country who has a better intellect than. I don’t think there is any of them who has given more public service than my brother. He has worked as a Magistrate, he has worked in the DPP’s office, he worked as a Minister of Government in two administrations, and he has given his life. And as far as his competence as an attorney, I think he is second to none.

The other two people, Godfrey Smith and Andrew Marshalleck, what they lack in experience, I think they are very bright people, very competent people, and there is no doubt about that – they are very good attorneys and I can’t see any harm being done to them by elevated to the society and both of them are quite competent and capable people.”

Keith Swift,
“But don’t you think there might have been longer practicing attorneys who might have been deserving of elevation to senior counsel status?”

Hon. Wilfred Sedi Elrington,
“My own preference is to assess people based on competence.”

Also elevated to senior counsel status were Antonette Moore, Lisa Shoman, and Nicholas Dujon.

Elrington who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs says the budget for that Ministry is facing a 15% cut. He also announced that two judges from Australia will be joining the bench. In his statement, the Chief Justice said there were 15,590 cases in the Magistrate’s Court. As mentioned in the story, there were 1,054 cases in the Supreme Court. And stay tuned because later on in the news – we’ll judge Elrington’s conciliatory position that he took today against the record of his combative remarks given last year.