Gun & Gang Court Coming Under New Bill

The Briceño Administration has introduced the Belize Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 2025, a sweeping legislative proposal aimed at strengthening national security and the state’s ability to respond to crime.

The bill, tabled by Prime Minister John Briceño, seeks to amend Chapter 4 of the Constitution to allow for the declaration of “special areas” in the interest of public safety, public order, and the prevention or detection of crime.

It also proposes the establishment of a specialised Gun and Gang Court and aims to validate past State of Emergency (SOE) proclamations, including all regulations and actions taken under them.

In his address to the House, Prime Minister Briceño stated, “Uncertainty in the law cannot persist unchecked for such a long period. That is why I’m introducing this bill—the 13th Amendment—because legislative intervention is necessary.”

A central provision of the amendment is the introduction of a mechanism by which the Governor General, acting on the advice of the National Security Council, may declare an area a “special area.” Within this area, certain constitutional rights may be limited for a specified period. The advice must be grounded in reasonable justification and will come from a multi-sectoral body that includes the Commissioner of Police, the heads of the Belize Defence Force and Coast Guard, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Attorney General.

Briceño said that the reasonable grounds required for declaring these areas align with the same threshold courts use when assessing the validity of SOEs. He argued that the proposed amendments not only provide legal clarity and structure but also reinforce the state’s ability to act decisively against rising levels of violent crime.