Police Constable Wins Constitutional Battle After Nine Years in Legal Limbo

Police constable Darrel Swaso, who spent nearly a decade in professional and legal purgatory, interdicted from duty, barred from travel, and forced to find alternative work, has finally received a measure of justice from the High Court of Belize, which recently ruled that his constitutional right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time had been violated by the State.

On August 9, 2013, Darrel Swaso, then a serving police constable, was arrested alongside a passenger in his vehicle and charged with drug trafficking. He was placed on interdiction and suspended from active duty.

On February 5, 2015, Swaso and his co-accused were convicted at the Magistrate’s Court in San Ignacio. Swaso appealed, and on May 25, 2015, the Supreme Court (now designated the High Court) set aside his conviction and ordered a retrial to be held “without undue delay.”

According to the ruling, from the date of that order, the State took no steps whatsoever to schedule or initiate a retrial. Not in one year. Not in five. Not in nine. When Swaso filed his constitutional claim on May 27, 2025, exactly nine years had elapsed since the retrial order. Still, nothing had been done. Swaso remained on interdiction, adhering to court conditions.

According to the judgment, the Attorney General’s office wrote to the court on February 13, 2026, acknowledging the merits of Swaso’s claim. The AG conceded both that Swaso’s constitutional right had been breached and that a permanent stay of the proceedings against him was appropriate. The AG stopped short, however, of conceding that damages should be paid. Crown Counsel argued that because Swaso had been on bail rather than incarcerated and had been able to find alternative work, he had suffered no compensable prejudice. The AG further submitted that if the stay were granted, Swaso could then move to lift his interdiction and recover unpaid emoluments through the appropriate administrative channels, making a damages award in this forum unnecessary.

The judge observed that while Swaso was not imprisoned, his life was substantially disrupted: he was required to report to police regularly, was barred from travel, had to seek alternative employment, suffered reputational harm as an interdicted officer, and endured the prolonged psychological burden of unresolved criminal proceedings…what the judgment memorably describes as “the sword of Damocles, hanging over him.” Losing nine productive years of adult life, the court reasoned, meant losing nearly one quarter of a working lifetime.

The court awarded nominal damages calculated at BZD $1,200 per year of delay from May 2016 (the point by which retrial should have occurred under the Needham Points standard) through the filing of the constitutional claim in May 2025, a total of nine years, yielding an award of BZD $10,800. The judge was careful to note that this award is not intended as full compensation; Swaso retains the right to pursue a separate civil action with properly quantified and proven damages.