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The judge learnt the Garifuna language

only with regards the rate at which cases can be executed but in bringing security of continuity. Should I hire a Lawyer who operates as a sole practitioner, if for some reason that Lawyer cannot be at court, my matter invariably would be put down or the opposing Lawyer may take advantage of his absence and have the matter tried in his absence. On the other hand, if my Lawyer was a member/associate/partner from a firm, there would most probably be a fully prepared representative, standing in. In actuality today should your lawyer leave the jurisdiction you need to pay another to continue your matter.

The lead participant in the discourse (conversation) certainly impressed. However, the most impressionable note he sounded was not in his erudite presentation on the life and works of Attorney at Law, Chancellor and Professor JOF Haynes but on his own practice as a Judge. This Guyanese working in Belize took time off to learn the Garifuna Language. I must take my hat off to you every time we’ll meet in the future Justice Abel. That act of yours convinced me that you took time off to really understand the situation of those whom you Judge.

Two years ago, I was at the Whim Magistrate’s Court, which was presided over by Magistrate Charlyn Artiga. That day at the court in Whim taught me so much about Guyanese and the languages we speak.

Magistrate Artiga at times tried to speak (in Creolese) so that those under her judgement understood what was happening, at other times the Police Officers present did the translations. I remembered the Magistrate asking a person (I think he was the complainant) to decide if she (the Magistrate) should try his case at Whim or he wished that it be tried at the High Court. The man clearly said High Court after she repeated her question three times. It was not until she announced something to the effect that he should get a Lawyer, and make preparations to defend the matter at the Berbice High court in New Amsterdam, that realisation struck. The obviously disturbed man began a tirade about how much a lawyer would cost and how much time he’ll waste if he has to travel to a New Amsterdam court.

Obviously being a responsible and concerned official, Magistrate Artiga, to her credit and that of some Police Officers present were able to accommodate the man’s true desire in having the matter resolved at Whim.

In that same court, when some of the cases were called, the parties actually declared that they had reached resolution outside of court. In other words, via a mediatory process, which happened primarily because of the family or communal influences which are rather still powerful in that part of the

country as against the urban settings of the city or say most parts of Region # 4, where I am from. A demonstration that mediation can have a role to play in removing some of the backlogs that occupy the Judicial System, as was suggested by many on Tuesday.

In closing, I can imagine Justice Abel bantering in Garifuna as he gathered information on which to make a decision within the laws of Belize while even considering some of the norms and practices which may not be enshrined in the official Legal System of the land but are grounded in the value system of the people that inhabit Belize.

Please continue the conversation and thanks Mr VC for the invite. Yours faithfully, Elton McRae