BELMOPAN, Belize, Sept 4, CMC-The Court of Appeal of Belize has awarded BDZ$15,000 (One Belize dollar=US$0.49 cent) in compensation and BDZ$7,000 in vindicatory damages to each of five detainees after ruling that two states of emergency (SoE)imposed on Southside Belize City in 2020 were unconstitutional.
In a landmark ruling the Court of Appeal also declared that the both the emergency proclamations and the mass detentions carried out under them unconstitutional.
Acting Justice of Appeal E. Andrew Marshalleck said that using SoEs to tamp down gang violence, acts merely as “bandages rather than cures” while threatening the fundamental rights guaranteed by Section 3 of the Belize Constitution.
The Court found that the government failed to provide enough evidence to justify the extraordinary measures, noting that ordinary crime and violence, even when severe, cannot automatically justify a state of emergency.
(Details in Full News section)
CMC/2026