Today, the members of the judiciary were away from the courts, as they converged at the Radisson for a training workshop to strengthen the courts in Belize and the rest of the Caribbean. The workshop is organized by the Judicial Reform and Institutional Strengthening Project and UN Women. It is looking closely at how gender affects the functions of the court to deliver justice, fairly and impartially. The project seeks to re-engineer the court functions and processes to meet the demands of Belizeans in a modern and developmentally challenging world.
Kenneth Benjamin, Chief Justice of Belize
“The ultimate goal of the JURIST Project is to develop a judicial system that is more responsive to the needs of women, men, youth, business and the poor. Of necessity, this outcome requires that one of the cross cutting themes of the project should be gender. In order to appreciate how fundamental the training is, I want to draw your attention to your role and function as judicial officers. Each of you swore or affirmed that you would impartially discharge your duties as a magistrate and do right to all manner of people without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. This principle of impartiality has been internationally accepted as one of the basic values and tenets that are exposed by judicial officers universally. Each case is just important as the next, however big, however small, however complex or however seemingly simple. The strength of the judiciary lies in its capacity to deliver justice according to the law, competently and with impartiality, integrity and propriety.”
Gloria Richards-Johnson, Director, JURIST Project
“The JURIST Project has been working with judiciaries in the Caribbean to support their own efforts to improve court administration and the ability of the courts and the judiciary to resolve cases efficiently and fairly. Our aim is to modernize and strengthen court systems, their processes and services and to equip judicial officers and court staff with the skills and competencies necessary to deliver justice in a fair, predictable efficient and timely manner.”
Courtesy: http://edition.channel5belize.com
