The Attorney-General of Belize is a cabinet-level official who acts as the principal legal adviser to the government of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

Overview

The position of AG is outlined in Section 42 of the

Constitution of Belize The Constitution of Belize is the supreme law of the nation of Belize. It was signed on September 1981 with effect from that date. Structure The Constitution of Belize, Chapter 4 of the Laws of Belize, is divided into a preamble, 13 parts and f ...

, which requires that the AG have been qualified for at least five years to practice as an advocate in a court of unlimited jurisdiction in the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

or Ireland. Civil proceedings for and against the State are taken in the name of the Attorney General. Prior to 2010, the constitution also required that the AG be a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

or the

Senate of Belize The Senate is one of the chambers of the National Assembly of Belize. It has 13 members appointed for a five-year term by the Governor General of Belize. Establishment and appointment Senators are appointed by the Governor General in the fo ...

. As part of the Belize Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Bill, the government proposed to remove this restriction; the same bill also proposed to replace the right of appeal to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Aug ...

with the

Caribbean Court of Justice The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ; nl, Caribisch Hof van Justitie; french: Cour Caribéenne de Justice) is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Established in 2005, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. ...

, and to allow dual citizens to become members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The thinking behind this amendment was that an unelected AG could avoid becoming embroiled in partisan politics. Then-AG

Wilfred Elrington Wilfred Peter "Sedi" Elrington (born 20 November 1948)

, who concurrently held the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Trade, justified the proposed changes by pointing out that he was already overworked due to his three positions, and that changing the requirement would allow the PM to tap the best talent from the private sector to become AG. However, in the House, Mark Espat ( PUP) criticised the bill as creating a special privilege for lawyers to get around the ordinary electoral process on their way to the Cabinet, while

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the Cayo D ...

stated that the change should be unnecessary given that the PM already had the power to appoint a 13th member to the Senate; despite these concerns, the bill passed the House (though with the dual-citizenship MP provisions stripped out. In the Senate, Henry Gordon and Godwin Hulse expressed concern over this change, but the bill passed the Senate as well by a vote of eight-to-two with two abstentions.

List of attorneys-general

British Honduras (1862–1973)

* Sir Alexander Campbell Onslow, 1878–1880 *(Sir) Henry Rawlins Pipon Schooles 1880–1883 * Sir W. Meigh Goodman KC, 1883–1886 *Charles Reginald Hoffmeister, 1886–1893 *

Leslie Probyn Sir Leslie Probyn (23 February 1862 – 17 December 1938) was an administrator for the British Empire. Career Probyn was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1884. He began his career as a British colonial administrator in the Caribbean. F ...

1893–96 (afterwards Attorney General of Grenada, 1896) *Sir Frederic Mackenzie Maxwell, 1896–1907 (afterwards

Chief Justice of British Honduras The Chief Justice of Belize is the head of the Supreme Court of Belize. Under Chapter 7 of the Constitution of Belize, the Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister. Since the retirement of Kenneth B ...

, 1907) **Henry Eugene Walter Grant, 1902–1903 (acting) *C.R. Davies, c.1907 * Lancelot Elphinstone, 1913–?1919 (afterwards Solicitor General of Trinidad, 1919) *Sir George O'Donnell Walton, 1919-?1921 (afterwards

Chief Justice of Grenada The Chief Justice of Grenada is the head of the Supreme Court of Grenada which consists of the High Court with three justices and a two-tier Court of Appeal. The original High Court of Grenada was replaced by the Windward and Leeward Islands Supre ...

, 1921) *Hon. Willoughby Bullock, c. 1926-?1928 (afterwards

Chief Justice of St Vincent The Chief Justice of St Vincent was the head of the Supreme Court of Saint Vincent in Saint Vincent, an island member of the Windward Islands in the West Indies. The court was replaced by the Windward and Leeward Islands Supreme Court and the W ...

, 1928) *Sidney Alexander Roger McKinstry, 1932–c.1941 **O.L. Bancroft, 1941 (acting) *Harold John Hughes, 1941–1950 *Cyril George Xavier Henriques, 1950–1956 (afterwards Chief Justice of the Windward and Leeward Islands, 1958) *Charles Francis Henville, c. 1956–1968 *John Kingsley Havers, c. 1968–1973

Belize

*Vernon Harrison Courtenay, c. 1974 - c. 1979 *

, 1979–84 under PM

George Cadle Price George Cadle Price, (15 January 191919 September 2011), was a Belizean statesman who served twice as the head of government of Belize from 1961–1984 and 1989–1993. He served as First Minister and Premier under British rule until inde ...

Said Musa - Caribbean Hall of Fame
accessed 12 May 2015 *Hubert Elrington, 1984–86 under PM

Manuel Esquivel Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was ...

FORM 8-K PUB CRAWL HOLDINGS, INC.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

, 6 September 2012; accessed 12 May 2015. *

Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...

, 1986–89 under PM

Glenn Godfrey Glenn Derick Godfrey S.C. (born 7 June 1949) is a Belizean politician, jurist and writer. He served as the Attorney General and Ministers of Tourism and Environment under prime minister George Cadle Price between 1989 and 1993. A member of the ...

1989–93 under PM

, 1993–98 (second) under PM

Our Leaders, United Democratic Party
United Democratic Party; accessed 12 May 2015. * Godfrey Smith, 1999–2003 under PM

*Eamon Harrison Courtenay SC, 2004 – c. 2007 under PM

Francis Fonseca Francis William Fonseca (born 11 March 1967) is a Belizean politician who served as leader of the People's United Party (PUP) and as Leader of the Opposition of Belize from 2011 to 2016.

, c. 2007 under PM

Wilfred Elrington Wilfred Peter "Sedi" Elrington (born 20 November 1948)

, 2008–10 under PM

* Bernard Q. Pitts, 2010–12 under PM

Wilfred Elrington Wilfred Peter "Sedi" Elrington (born 20 November 1948)

(second), 2012–2015 under PM

* Vanessa Retreage, 2015 - 2017 under PM Dean Barrow. * Michael Peyrefitte, 2017 - 2020 under PM Dean Barrow.http://www.wiredja.com/news/caribbean/item/5123-belize-outgoing-speaker-sworn-in-as-new-attorney-general * Magali-Marin-Young, 2020 – present under PM

Johnny Briceño John Antonio Briceño (born 17 July 1960) is a Belizean politician who is the 5th and current Prime Minister of Belize since 12 November 2020, and the leader of the People's United Party (PUP) since 2016. He was Leader of the Opposition from 20 ...

References

External links

Senate of Belize Debate on the Belize Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Bill
23 February 2010 {{Attorneys General of British overseas territories

Attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...