NINTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF BELIZE: Following the Trails 1. The Ninth Amendment 2. Press Release—Bar Association of Belize 3. Press Release—Belize Chamber of Commerce 4. Open Letter from the Prime Minister of Belize 5. Press Release from the Council of Churches August 2011
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Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of Belize--Updated: Tracking the Trails
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NINTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF BELIZE:
Following the Trails
1. The Ninth Amendment2. Press Release—Bar Association of Belize3. Press Release—Belize Chamber of Commerce4. Open Letter from the Prime Minister of Belize5. Press Release from the Council of Churches
August 2011
(www.belize.org)
BCCI Calls on the Government to Withdraw the 9thAmendment BillWednesday, August 3, 2011If enacted, the proposed Ninth Amendment to Belize’s Constitution creates a very dangeroussituation, which is not contemplated by our Constitution. It allows the Legislature to haveabsolute power to amend the Constitution as long as it has the requisite two-thirds to three-fourths majority and follows the other procedural requirements under Section 69 to enable theamendment. In effect, we move from a Constitutional Supremacy where the laws passed by theLegislature must conform to the Constitution, to Parliamentary Supremacy where the Parliamentis supreme and can pass any law without reference to our Constitution. The potential for abuse isreal. If the Legislature has absolute powers it can take away any fundamental right or freedomfrom Belizeans by further amending the Constitution, and we will have no recourse to challengethe substance of the amendments.In other words, with the passage of the Ninth Amendment we risk losing the basic rights andfreedoms we as Belizeans consider the very essence of our democracy. We would be placingultimate control of our democracy in the hands of our elected representatives, without any checkon their powers. As with the recently withheld proposed Eighth Amendment (PreventativeDetention), we note that this current administration had proposed drastic changes to our personalliberties. With the Ninth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment can be reintroduced, and we wouldbe unable to challenge its substance in the courts.In our democracy all persons are equal before the law, and all persons are afforded equal rightsto challenge any law passed by the Legislature. While the Chamber recognizes the right of theGovernment to nationalize property, every person whose property has been acquired should havea right to access the Court to challenge that acquisition. If the Constitution is to be amended todeny that right to certain persons, it creates inequality in our law, undermines our democracy andsets new precedence to which we can all become victims.Further, the Chamber objects to the proposal that investment of Social Security funds, thepeople’s money, should now be considered Government shares in public utility companies.Government control and interference have been shown to be detrimental to the Fund, which iswhy the Chamber and other social partners fought in 2005 to take the Social Security fund out ofpolitical control. The Ninth Amendment seeks to reverse the people's will as expressed at thattime and to deem the Social Security Board’s (SSB) shares in our public utilities as a part of theGovernment’s shareholding, with the requirement that if the SSB is to sell its shares, it must firstoffer the shares to Government. Aside from infringing on the SSB’s freedom to deal with itsproperty, this gives rise to possible conflict of interest and abuse.If the entrenchment of ownership of public utilities is all the Ninth Amendment sought toachieve, the Chamber would not be so concerned. However, when the Government goes beyondentrenchment and seeks to interfere with our fundamental rights as Belizeans, rights which if lostmay never be regained, this cannot be taken lightly.The Chamber calls on the Government to withdraw the Ninth Amendment and renews its call forthe Government to desist from taking any actions that offend the principle of separation ofpowers and our democratic institutions enshrined and entrenched in our Constitution.
The Nation of Belize is founded upon principles which, inter alia, acknowledge the Supremacy of God, faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms, the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions, the dignity of the human person and the equal and inalienable rights with which all members of the human family are endowed by their creator. The Belize Council of Churches having reviewed and considered the amendments proposed by the Government of Belize in the Belize Constitution (Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2011, is most concerned about the potential erosion of this most fundamental principle by the proposed amendments through the conferral of unbridled legislative power to change the constitution and wishes to make the following statement:
(1) The Council does not support the proposed amendment to section 2 of the Constitution.
The Council accepts that the Belize Constitution is the Supreme law of Belize and properly imposes substantive limitations on the power of the National Assembly to make laws. In particular section 68 of the Belize Constitution provides that the National Assembly shall make laws "subject to the provisions of the Constitution for the peace order and good government of Belize". Therefore any amendments to the Constitution which are inconsistent with the fundamental principles set forth in the Constitution particularly the preamble, is beyond the law making authority of the National Assembly since such laws cannot be for the peace order or good government of Belize. For it to be otherwise would allow for internal inconsistencies in the Constitution itself and thereby make a mockery of the Constitution.
Other Executive Members Most Rev'd D. Wright Rev'd Fr, N. Leslie Rt. Rev'd P. Wright Major H. King Rev'd R. Papouloute Mr. F. Shyu Mrs. Y. Murray Ms. R. Armstrong
(2) The Council does not support the proposed amendment to section 69 of the Constitution.
A necelssary corollary to substantive restrictions on legislative power is the power of the Judiciary to review legislation to ensure compliance with the Constitution. The Judiciary is also empowered by section 20 of our Constitution to enforce the protection of our fundamental rights and freedoms if any of us believe our fundamental rights and freedoms to have been contravened. If the judiciary is to effectively carry out this function, it is critical that they be able to examine the content of amendments to our Constitution and not be limited to merely checking to see that the procedural requirements for changing the Constitution set out in section 69 have been met.
(3) The Council supports the proposed insertion of Part XIII into the Constitution for the purposes of (i) ensuring that ownership of the public utilities defined therein will be owned and controlled by the people of Belize and (ii) that tangible benefits will by extension be passed to the people of Belize via such ownership. However, the Council does not support the proposed bar on the jurisdiction of Courts to inquire into the constitutionality, legality or validity of the acquisitions nor any derogation of the rights of the former owners of these utilities. The Council calls on the Government secure the public utilities for the Belizean people in a manner which respects the rights of the former owners of these utilities.