Belize abolishes appeals to Privy Council as of June 1

By Oscar Ramjeet:


It is now official.

Belize will abolish appeals to the Privy Council as of next month, June 1.

An Order to this effect was issued by the country's Prime Minister, Dean Barrow, which was advertised in the last issue of Belize Government Gazette and which stated that the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act and the Caribbean Court of Justice Act will come into effect on that date.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will now replace the Privy Council as the highest Court of Appeal for Belize. This will not, however, affect appeals pending before the Privy Council on 31 May 2010.

Belize is the third country to have accepted the Appellate Jurisdiction of the CCJ, which was established on 14 February 2001. The other two are Guyana and Barbados.
The present seat of the CCJ is in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. However, the Agreement establishing the CCJ provides that the Court may sit in the territory of any other Contracting state as circumstances may require.

Moreover, the CCJ has the most modern technical facilities, including audio and video facilities and applications and interlocutory proceedings can be conducted via these media rather than by attorneys journeying to Port of Spain to make their presentations.

A Belize Government press release issued on Tuesday stated, "The removal of the age-old Privy Council as the highest court for Belize and its replacement by the CCJ represents a major landmark in the constitutional and legal history of Belize and has been widely welcomed among the Caribbean Community."

Guyana severed its link with the London based Privy Council since 1970 when the country attained republican status, and established its own court of appeal -- the Guyana Court of Appeal -- as its final court, and as a result litigants were only allowed one appeal in Guyana for a number of years until April 2005 when the CCJ was inaugurated.

Barbados retained the Privy Council until 2005 when it accepted the regional court as the final court.

Although the CCJ was established in 2001, discussions have been going on since 1988. I recall that Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were in the forefront of its establishment, and it is unfortunate that neither of the two countries has up to this date rid itself of the Privy Council. However, both countries tried, but were prevented by a ruling of the said Privy Council that the procedure they adopted was wrong and that they require constitutional amendments.

However, I am optimistic that these two countries, which are considered the big countries in the region will sooner rather than later amend their Constitutions, thus paving way to join the appellate division of the CCJ.

Port of Spain is the headquarters of the CCJ and I feel that the twin island republic will take steps before the end of this year to put the mechanism in place to join the regional court, even if there is a change of government.

As a matter of fact, if Kamla Persad-Bissessar becomes the new prime minister, she being a Caribbean-trained attorney, will be anxious to have the regional court as the final appellate court, and I have no doubt that Patrick Manning will give his support, since he has always been in favour of the move, but the former opposition leader, Basdeo Panday was and still is against it.

Perhaps I should state that, since two thirds of the votes are required in a referendum to change the Constitution, the government must get the support of the opposition before it becomes a reality.

St Lucia, Dominica, and Grenada are also considering joining the CCJ. The Ralph Gonsalves administration in St Vincent and the Grenadines wanted to get on board, but it failed in its referendum to amend the constitution on November 25 last.

However, in my view, it is not that Vincentians do not want to remove the Privy Council as the final court, but the referendum was loaded with a series of constitutional amendments, including more powers to the Prime Minister, and a President to replace the Governor General.

The Antigua and Barbuda government is now engaged in a battle for survival following a recent court decision that declared three seats held by Ministers, including the Prime Minister, vacant on the ground that there were irregularities on election day, and as such the Baldwin Spencer administration is not now in a position to look into the issue.

May 12, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

The 'Free Movement' Quiz For Caricom

Carrington sparks questions on labour mobility and help for Haiti
RICKEY SINGH


CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington last week chose to raise hopes - amid prevailing disappointments - for progress in the "free movement of Caricom nationals" of the dozen countries participating in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) project.

The optimism expressed by the secretary general has, however, to be considered in the context of caveats that serve to underscore the recognised need for more focused, collective efforts by governments to make stated commitment on planned migration and labour mobility a reality.

Carrington, Caricom's longest chief public servant - he is now in his 18th year as secretary general - was addressing last week's three-day meeting in Guyana of the 19th Council of Human and Social Development (COSHOD), held in conjunction with the Seventh Ministerial Meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

At the meeting, which was concluded on Friday with Caricom's labour ministers in attendance, Carrington also thought it necessary to remind the Community's governments that "it is not enough for us to just be sorry" for earthquake-devastated Haiti, but to come forward with specific, "concrete pledges" to alleviate the burden of the Haitian people.

Let me address first the secretary general's assessment of what remains one of the more sensitive issues in Caricom's journey towards the laudable goal of establishing a seamless regional economy with the CSME.

While the public awaits the decisions reached at the COSHOD meeting, Carrington has stated that "free movement of labour and intra-regional migration" are "challenging" issues for deliberation.

'Movement' certificates


In recognising the anxieties of wage earners who remain excluded from the 10 approved categories for free movement within the CSME framework, Carrington pointed to the gains made which have resulted in the release of more than 6,000 Caricom skills certificates between 2006 and 2008.

A further increase is expected for 2010 because, he said, of the "expansion in the categories of wage earners who could now move across the region for economic activity".

But Secretary General Carrington would know that for all the expressed good intentions, data on the annual processing of skills certificates, as well as a number of applications yet to be addressed, are not readily forthcoming.

Additionally, frustration continues to be the name of the game in the absence of common legislation guaranteeing contingent rights for holders of approved skills certificates and members of their immediate family to access education, health and housing facilities.

Ironically, one of the governments among those failing to expedite the processes for free movement of labour and intra-regional migration is that of Dominica whose prime minister (Roosevelt Skerrit) has lead responsibility among Caricom leaders for "labour including movement of skills".

A yet unpublished 'country report' in support of full integration of Belize and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has, for instance, observed that while the government in Roseau was strongly in favour of the regional regime for labour mobility, "it needs to put in place the arrangements to facilitate accreditation and full mobility..."

Do not expect a listing of other defaulting governments from either the CSME unit dealing with this matter or the Community Secretariat itself.

But pertinent questions could be: How many of the 12 governments involved in CSME planning are at least 50 per cent ready with necessary arrangements for free movement of labour and intra-regional migration?

The reality is that while the expressed optimism by the secretary general can be appreciated, doubts and cynicism can only diminish, if not disappear, with EVIDENCE of relevant COLLECTIVE action.

Encouraging reminders


Yet, it is at least encouraging to have the Community's secretary general offering appropriate reminders on essential work agendas as he did this past week in relation to free movement of nationals within the CSME.

Also of relevance is Carrington's observation that "it is not enough for us (Caricom) to just be 'sorry' for Haiti (echoing a long-expressed sentiment of the calypsonian David Rudder).

But to tell it like it is may require raising questions about why - in the face of the destruction of Haiti by the earthquake of last January 12 - Caricom governments are yet to come forward with at least a draft plan on how to offer temporary immigrant status for a specified number of displaced Haitians.

With minor exceptions, what we seem to be facing at present is the typical scenario - prior to the earthquake disaster - of Haitians turning up illegally in a few Caricom states - Jamaica and The Bahamas in particular.

Perhaps former prime minister of Jamaica PJ Patterson, our 'Special Advocate for Haiti', should, in collaboration with the Community Secretariat, provide updates on the "concrete pledges of support" being received by the 'Special Support Unit for Haiti' established by Caricom and operating out of Jamaica.

April 18, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

If the Conservative Party wins the election in Britain, Belize could be in trouble

By Wellington C Ramos:


Most Belizeans are not aware of the fact that next month there will be a national election held in Great Britain for the 650 seats in the British House of Commons. The main parties that are competing for these seats are the Liberal Democrats, under their leader Nick Clegg; the Conservative Party, with David Cameron; and the Labour Party, which currently controls the reins of government under the leadership of Britain’s current Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

This election could determine what will be the relationship between Great Britain and Belize for the next five years due to the influence of Michael Ashcroft, who financially supported the People’s United Party in Belize and is doing the same for the Conservative Party in Great Britain. He is angry with this current UDP government for taking over BTL from him and may find a way to influence his party to retaliate against the people and government of Belize.

On March 11, 1981, the Conservative Party was in power under the leadership of their then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, known as the “Iron Lady” due to the British war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands. She forced our country of Belize into independence by sending a representative to our country by the name of Nicholas Ridley with a document titled the “Heads of Agreement.” This document was a proposed agreement to settle the dispute with Great Britain and Guatemala over our country.

When Belizeans saw the document they erupted and was ready to burn down the whole country of Belize. The leader of the People’s United Party George Cadle Price was so much in a rush for independence that he allowed Mr Ridley to riddle his way out of the negotiations and our country ended up with independence on September 21, 1981 without any defence treaty with Great Britain.

Not only did the British not grant our country any defence guarantees but they were thinking about abruptly withdrawing all their forces out of our country after exploiting Belize for a total of three hundred and forty-three years since the arrival of one of their explorers Peter Wallace in 1638.

Luckily for Belize, there was a civil war brewing in El Salvador and the President of the United States at the time, Ronald Reagan, was concerned about the impact it would have on the entire region and persuaded the British to stay. It was even said that the Americans paid for the British to remain in Belize.

The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused to make any commitment to our country and said that the British forces will remain in Belize for an indefinite period of time. The word indefinite will end up being a short period of time.

When the Falklands war started, the British were thinking about doing a major withdrawal of their forces but due to Belize’s strategic location in the region they prepared a phased withdrawal plan. After the war, they ended up withdrawing most of their garrison regiment and left a training center now known as BATSUB.

Belize is now left defenceless and without any defence guarantees from Great Britain or any other major military power in the world. Due to this vulnerable situation that Belize now finds itself in, Guatemala continues to claim Belize and their citizens are crossing our border at will, coming in and out of our country whenever they feel like, as if Belize belongs to them.

Current polls in Britain indicate that the Conservative Party is leading with 39%, the Labour Party at 29% and the Liberal Democrats at 20%. This poll was conducted by the Sunday Times newspaper, which is conservative and is owned by one of their financial supporters Rupert Murdoch. He is another billionaire that finances the Republican Party in the United States and own several newspapers, including the Boston Globe and the New York Post. This poll could be biased but it should not be taken lightly.

Great Britain is going through hard economic times and the British people are angry with the current government over their constant support of the United States in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Prime Minister Gordon Brown wanted to become prime minister so badly, that he asked his colleagues to replace a very popular and charismatic leader Tony Blair for him. Since he became the prime minister the party has become very unpopular because most British people see him as a bland person, who is unable to rally his people behind him and his party’s agenda.

The way politics is turning in Great Britain, the United States, Belize and other countries in the world, there is an urgent need for stiffer campaign spending laws to restrict the amount of money candidates can spend in an election and the amount big businesses and billionaires can donate to the political parties in order to control them and work in their best interest against the working class and the poor.

Recently New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent millions of dollars to force himself into office against term limits that was approved in a referendum by the citizens of New York City for a third term. Now that he has been re-elected, New York City residents are sorry because of the amount of problems that have been resurrected after the elections were held. This type of politics is resulting in unintelligent rich people running for office, who do not have the substance to be good leaders and intelligent poor people, who possess the substance but are being controlled by the unintelligent person and his money.

There is a true saying in politics: “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” This phrase is true because very few people are going to give you anything in life without expecting something back in return. The recent experience with Michael Ashcroft in Belize getting those tax breaks at the expense of the Belizean people that were given to him by the People’s United Party for their victories over the years, is why we Belizeans should encourage this UDP administration to pass campaign finance spending laws to avoid our government from being bought over and controlled by the rich.

The British elections will be here soon and the best we can hope for is that the Conservative Party and the Labour Party do not gain a majority of seats to form a government. If this happens, then whoever wins will have to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats and arrange a power sharing administration.

The conflict between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands is coming back to life, due to oil deposits on the Falkland Islands and Britain is thinking about commencing drilling. There is oil in Belize and Guatemala but most people are afraid to discuss what impact the oil have on the territorial dispute between these two countries when they know that it does have an impact.

April 10, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Belize can become a better place if we focus on crime and economic development together

By Wellington C Ramos:


Belize and the other English-speaking Caribbean countries are all experiencing a significant increase in their crime and unemployment rates. The time is now right for these countries to conduct a comprehensive study in order to examine the impact chronic unemployment has on crime.

I have looked at some studies that have been conducted over the years in most of the large urban centres in the United States of America and they have all revealed that there is a relationship between the two. Our country has too many idle, unemployed and displaced youths.

Currently in Belize many of these youths are members of violent gangs and are engaged in criminal and anti-social activities that are making our country unsafe and discouraging people from other countries to come to Belize as tourists to spend money and boost the economy.

The last time I was in Belize I saw a gentleman dressed in police uniform on a motorcycle and had no police number or name on his uniform while all regular police officers must wear a number on their shirts. I was told by a person that he was a “tourist police,” a new thing that they started in Belize.

This police officer was chasing a suspect around the main bridge in Dangriga town and he pulled out a loaded 38 revolver to shoot at the suspect. Luckily, he did not fire the gun at the time because he probably would have shot an innocent civilian pedestrian passing by and we would have had no way of identifying this police officer. This might be the right time for all police officers to have their name attached to their uniforms in addition to their badge numbers.

Our ministers of government along with the businesses and industries can all sit around the table and convene an economic development plan for the next ten years. This will be to the benefit of the government and the private businesses. When citizens of a country become employed they will possess the means of purchasing their commodities from the businesses and industries and pay their taxes to the government to increase their revenues.

I am not living in Belize permanently and it is hard for me as a Belizean to comprehend how our ministers can go to bed at night only to wake up and hear that a member of their political constituency has lost a loved one. Also, for the business owners to hear that another business was robbed at gunpoint and the owner of the business was shot and killed. How long must we all wait until we ourselves become victims of this ongoing madness?

The Belize government should consider bringing back the traffic police into the department because it will help to generate more income for the economy and reduce the crime rates. Along with the department they should set up police toll stations on our highways to conduct searches for drugs, weapons, ammunition, wanted criminals, illegal aliens, stolen goods and other contraband items. The revenues from the tolls would pay for the maintenance of the highways and to pay the traffic police officers. When I attended the Police Academy years ago, the two areas of law I had most difficulty with were traffic and immigration.

I still cannot understand how the decision was made to take these two departments from the police force and hand it over to civilians. It is easier to control police officers than civilians because it is a disciplined branch. There is nothing wrong with admitting that we made a mistake and acknowledge that something is not working because that is a part of development. Many of our youths who are unemployed would become employed as traffic officers and businesses and industries will have their commodities and cargoes transported safely throughout the entire country.

Belize and these countries have many challenges to deal with but crime and unemployment are the two major thorns they must address quickly. Belizeans are becoming very impatient and intolerant. When our people have had enough of something they will do something about it. Pretty soon they will begin to ask themselves is this UDP Government doing their best to address these two important issues. If they come to the conclusion that the answer is no, they will not hesitate to put back the government in the hands of the People’s United Party or another political party.

Remember that these killings and crimes have Belizeans letting out their emotions and some people are not rational thinkers while they are expressing their emotions. Many nights before I go to bed, I sit in the United States and wonder if our leaders in Belize ever listen to the advice that we the people from the United State are giving them or they just do not give a darn about what we think. Remember also that we have close relatives in Belize and every Belizean has a family member living in the United States.

Let us now conduct this economic development summit to provide employment to our unemployed citizens and reduce these killings and robberies.

February 18, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International