Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Matthew 7, 1-2 : The Holy Bible (King James Version)
The news of the resignation of President of the Court of Appeal, Mr. Justice Elliot Mottley, blew through the legal community like a cheap plastic kite on a breezy March morning in the Jewel – fast and erratically. To the cognoscenti, such an act of judicial seppuku was not unexpected. Honor was at stake, and the President is the most honorable of those on the Bench in Belize.
It did mean however that both in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, the top spots must now be filled – in an unusual legal synchronicity. Once again there was a peerless jurist on whom a power-drunk Executive had set its merciless gaze. For the third time this year, a judge's position was targeted. Happy Independence, indeed.
The Attorney General (for whom the Constitution was amended and who was supposed to be above the hurly burly of politics) was dispatched to see the President. The message was that after the slash and burn constitutional "regularization" of the once lifetime appointment had been concluded, His Lordship's services would not be required any longer. His Lordship's appointment would not be renewed.
Today, at the Special Sitting of the Court of Appeal to mark the departure of the President, his Lordship in an economical summation, devoid of emotion, stated flatly that he had been informed by CJ Conteh that the Government had unilaterally altered the terms and conditions of his appointment. His Lordship made it clear that this was done without his knowledge or consent. Mr. Justice Mottley said that once he became aware of this, he determined then to resign his office. What else was an honorable man to do?
In stark contrast, the Government of Belize drank too deeply of its own dishonorable propaganda and belched forth an attempted spin,