The Director of Public Prosecutions is the head

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern 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 maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, whose role is to prosecute criminal offences..

Legal basis

The office of DPP is established in Article 108 of the

Constitution of Belize The Constitution of Belize is the supreme law of the nation of Belize. It was signed in 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 ...

; candidates for the position must have the same qualifications as Justices of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. The DPP is appointed by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Section of the Public Services Commission, with the concurrence of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Though the DPP is formally part of the PSC, under Article 106(6) the PSC does not have the power to remove the DPP. Instead, under 108(6) through (8), the PM must refer the question of removal to the Governor-General, who requests the Belize Advisory Council to investigate whether the DPP is unable to discharge his duties of office or whether his misbehaviour rises to the level of requiring his removal from office.

List of Directors of Public Prosecutions

* Albert Staine, 1969 * Michael Long, 1980 to 1981 *

George Singh George Bawa Singh (May 1937 – 9 March 1999) was a Belizean judge who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1998 and as a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court from 1991 to 1998. He previously served as Solicitor General and Director ...

* Troadio Gonzalez, 1991 to 1992 * Lutchman Sooknandan (first), 1992 to 1994 * Rory Field, 2000 to 2002 * Kirk Anderson, 2002 to 2006 * Lutchman Sooknandan (second), 2007 to 2008 *

Cheryl-Lynn Vidal Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt Vidal is a Trinidadian lawyer, who serves as Belize's Director of Public Prosecutions. Early career Vidal worked as a lawyer in private practice in Jamaica and her native Trinidad before coming to Belize in 2000. There, ...

; 2008 to 2010 (acting), 2010 to present

References

{{Belize-stub