CCJ Holds Monitoring Hearing in Consent Order Case

It’s been nearly a decade since the landmark Maya Land Rights Consent Order was signed and today, the Caribbean Court of Justice held another monitoring hearing to check in on its progress. The case, brought by the Maya Leaders Alliance against the Attorney General of Belize, continues to shape how indigenous land rights are recognized and protected. At the start of today’s session, CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson acknowledged some positive strides, but also pointed to ongoing challenges that still need attention. So, where do things stand now?

 

Justice Winston Anderson, President, CCJ

“On the positive side we noticed that the draft policy has been shared with the appellants and that is very useful. No doubt we will hear from the appellants their views on the draft policy. There has also been very active engagement by the new Minister of Indigenous Affairs, Minister Zabaneh and we commend that effort on the minister’s part. There was a new executive officer, Mr. Williams, and he has also been involved. We recognize there was a meeting between eh appellants and the sub committee of Cabinet. We will hear a bit more about that, but that was a very positive move between the last monitoring hearing and today. We do have some challenges. We want to find out what progress has been made in terms of deliverables agreed to on the last occasion we were together.”