The Director of Public Prosecutions is the head

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, whose role is to prosecute criminal offences..

Legal basis

The office of DPP is established in Article 108 of the

Constitution of Belize The Constitution of Belize is the supreme law of the nation of Belize. It was signed on September 1981 with effect from that date. Structure The Constitution of Belize, Chapter 4 of the Laws of Belize, is divided into a preamble, 13 parts and f ...

; candidates for the position must have the same qualifications as Justices of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. The DPP is appointed by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Section of the Public Services Commission, with the concurrence of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Though the DPP is formally part of the PSC, under Article 106(6) the PSC does not have the power to remove the DPP. Instead, under 108(6) through (8), the PM must refer the question of removal to the Governor-General, who requests the

Belize Advisory Council Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

to investigate whether the DPP is unable to discharge his duties of office or whether his misbehaviour rises to the level of requiring his removal from office.

List of Directors of Public Prosecutions

Albert Staine Sir Albert Llewellyn Staine (4 July 1928 – 1987) was a Belizean judge. He was Director of Public Prosecutions in 1969. He was one of the founding members of the Belize Audubon Society that year. He was named a Commander of the Most Excellent Or ...

, 1969 * Michael Long, 1980 to 1981 * George Singh *

Troadio Gonzalez Troadio John Gonzalez (born 28 December 1941) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Belize. Career Born in Belize, Gonzalez received his Bachelor of Law from the University of the West Indies Law Faculty in Barbados and Jamaica, and went on to the N ...

, 1991 to 1992 *

Lutchman Sooknandan Lutchman Sooknandan (born 21 March 1948) is a Guyanese-Belizean lawyer. He previously served as Belize's Director of Public Prosecutions, practices law privately at Sooknandan's Law Firm, and serves as Guyana's honorary consul in Belize. Career S ...

(first), 1992 to 1994 *

Rory Field Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", ...

, 2000 to 2002 * Kirk Anderson, 2002 to 2006 *

(second), 2007 to 2008 * Cheryl-Lynn Vidal; 2008 to 2010 (acting), 2010 to present

References

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