Commentary: Selecting the attorney general for Belize and most English-speaking Caribbean countries
Posted by editor on October 17 2009 00:00:00
Under the constitution of Belize, the attorney general can only be selected in two ways. The first way is for the prime minister of Belize to recommend an elected lawyer from his party to be a member of his or her cabinet to the governor general to become a minister in his cabinet as our country’s attorney general.
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By Wellington C. Ramos

Under the constitution of Belize, the attorney general can only be selected in two ways. The first way is for the prime minister of Belize to recommend an elected lawyer from his party to be a member of his or her cabinet to the governor general to become a minister in his cabinet as our country’s attorney general. The second way is for the prime minster to appoint any lawyer as a senator to the Senate and then make him a minister in the cabinet and then recommend him or her to the governor general as his choice for attorney general.

Born in Dangriga Town, the cultural capital of Belize, Wellington Ramos has an MA in Urban Studies from Long Island University
Under these two conditions, the party in government will always benefit because the prime minister will more than likely pick a person that is a member of his party or one who supports all the goals and objectives of his political party.

Currently, in a constitutional amendment that is under consideration, the government in power is recommending a third way to give the prime minister the authority to select any lawyer to become the attorney general without being a member of the National Assembly or Cabinet. Still, even though it would widen the search pool, the possibility of loyalty to the party in power will still exist.

Since the attorney general position is the most powerful position in most countries, I would like to recommend a fourth way to the debate, namely, that the attorney general be elected by the Belizean people in a nationwide election every five years when our general elections are being held.

That way the citizens of Belize can hold the attorney general accountable for not doing his job when crimes are out of control, our laws are violated and it would embolden the attorney general with the power to indict ministers of government and public officials when they violate the constitution and the laws of Belize.

In this way, the attorney general will be seen as the true person to go and seek justice when injustice is committed against them. Under this arrangement, a lawyer who is of a certain age and has practiced law for a specified period of years will be eligible to file his or her candidacy for the office of attorney general and run for office.

The attorney general will only be accountable to the people of Belize and the governor general of the country. If the Belizean people are dissatisfied with his or her performance, they will have their opportunity to vote him or her out of office in the next general election. A provision will also have to be made in the constitution that a percentage of the budget be allocated to the attorney general to run his administration to avoid the possibility of the party in power refusing financial allocations to the attorney general to undermine his or her functions. Throughout these constitutional discussions that are taking place, I have not heard any of our politicians or legal experts propose this amendment to our constitution.

However, in looking at what happened in our past political administration and to prevent future occurrences of those types to resurface, this amendment is worthy of being considered to benefit our citizens and country. Belize and the Caribbean countries are growing democracies that should be thinking long term when amending the constitutions of their respective countries.

Amending a constitution is something a government does not want to be doing a lot because it is a lengthy process. Most people act based on what is good for their self interest. We need a legal system that is in the best interest of the general public, where the people can hold the attorney general accountable to them on election day.

There will be some people who would argue that this could lead to the politicization of the attorney general’s office. However, under the current system and the one that is being proposed it will still not be free from politics because in small countries like Belize almost everything is political. I applaud this government for recommending this third option to the process and would like them to include this fourth option in the debate.

This article is not being written to criticize the functions of the current attorney general or his government but rather to put something in place that will be to the benefit of our people and country in the long term future.

In the United States of America, in all the states, the attorney general is elected by the people of the state and his functions are independent from that of the legislative and executive branches of government. In fact, during the Watergate scandal under President Richard Nixon, he instructed the attorney general to conduct an illegal act and the attorney general refused and resigned in protest. A federal judge for the District of Columbia that President Nixon appointed to the bench, by the name of John Sirica, even ordered him to surrender the secret recordings of the Watergate tapes to the special prosecutor that was investigating him.

Under the current legal system of Belize and the Caribbean countries, the chances of this happening are slim to none. Many ministers have been accused of high crimes and have yet to be brought to justice, be convicted and go to prison like the average citizens of their countries. The laws of our countries must be executed and be upheld by all the citizens of our countries and not just a few.