Switching topics now - the case of the constitutional challenge by the Toledo Alcalde Association of the Village Councils act continues in the Supreme court. It took an interesting turn this week when Justice Nadine Nabi handed down a decision approving anthropologist Richard Wilk as an expert to produce a report on the history of the Alcalde system.
The government side argued against it because the widely published Will recently pleaded guilty to the possession of child pornography in the USA. He was sentenced to two years of home detention which began last month.
The attorney for the government in this case, Andrew Marshalleck told us via zoom why he objected to Wilk:
Andrew Marshalleck, SC, Representing GoB in Constit. Challenge to Village Councils Act
"We objected to Dr. Wilk on the basis of his his having pleaded guilty to certain criminal offenses in the US relating to child pornography. I'm not terribly familiar with the details of it. And he's apparently under house arrest at present. So we thought he he wasn't the type of person to be appointed for this purpose, that he lacked, I think the words I used, was the moral turpitude."
Jules Vasquez
"But I think the other side argued, and they argued successfully, that that his his academic work and his expertise in maya history had not been impeached."
Andrew Marshalleck
"Well, our position on that is that the academic is not indivisible from the person. It's the same person you're talking about. And how do you take his word? Or the first thing he has to do is to swear on the Bible and promise to tell the truth or otherwise affirm it. How do you treat with it?"
"Yesterday, the decision was handed down and the court accepted the appointment. The court expressed concerns about the delays this has caused to the proceedings and wanted to get ahead with it, but also expressed some reservations and made it clear that court was not condoning his conduct in any way, but approved the use of his services for this purpose."
The attorneys for the other side are Godfrey Smith and Leslie Mendez. In a statement via text message, she told us, quote, "Neither the court nor the parties condone the actions of Dr. Wilk whatsoever. His conviction, however, does not detract from his expertise. Dr. Wilk has conducted extensive field and archival research in Belize. He has been accepted by the court as an expert, and his testimony was cited in the various judgments. The rigour of his academic work has remained unchallenged. All parties acknowledge that a proper and fair determination of the matter requires expert evidence on Maya governance, and Dr. Wilk is among the few qualified individuals to provide such evidence. The AG did not present any alternatives, and the Claimants had in fact proposed another expert which was rejected by the AG. Today, the Court accepted Dr. Wilk as an expert on account of his competence and extensive research in Maya villages in southern Belize."
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