By Dylan Vernon, TIME COME #4, 15 November 2023)

Although there is near universal agreement that the Preamble is the cornerstone of the Constitution of Belize, some are sceptical on its practical utility. Is it purely a set of aspirational declarations? Is it obligatory and legally-binding on its own merit? Can it only be used by courts to help interpret the rest of the Constitution? Should it be left as is or should it be amended? These are some of the questions that the People’s Constitution Commission will likely consider in reviewing the Preamble and they are the focus of this Time Come post.

What Did the Framers Intend?

Let’s first set the background by exploring the intent of the framers of the Independence Constitution. During the public consultations by the Joint Select Committee (JSC) of the National Assembly on the White Paper on the Proposals of the Government of Belize on the Independence Constitution, several citizens sought clarity on what the Preamble, as drafted, would mean in practice for them in an independent Belize.

For example, in the very first public consultation in Punta Gorda, Toledo on 16 February 1981, a question from Timothy Bardalez, on whether the Constitution would help advance social welfare, prompted several interventions on the draft Preamble.… Read the rest...

By Dylan Vernon, Time Come (special) #3, 25 October 2023.

“Well, you better listen my sisters and brothers
‘Cause’ if you do you can hear
They’re voices calling across the years
And they’re ‘cryin’ across the ocean…
…And they will – till we all come to understand
None of Us are free, if one of us is chained…” (Lyrics written in 1993 by a blues trio, and made popular in 2002 by the soulful blues vocalist, Solomon Burke).

Cries Across the Ocean

As I write this, 2.3 million Palestinians are running from bombs and also running out of everything. This is the place called Gaza – a tiny strip of land surrounded by a 40-mile barrier on one side and the ocean on the next. From across that ocean, the cries of resistance and pain of Palestinians demand that I deviate this week from a planned TIME COME post on ‘the Preamble’. This is not as significant a deviation from Belize’s reality as it may superficially appear. Think of sovereignty, think of self-determination, think of territorial integrity. These universal principles are as Palestinian as they are Belizean.

We know how Guatemala’s claim to Belize’s territory and the failure of the British to resolve it, in a manner acceptable to Belizeans, delayed Belize’s Independence for almost two decades.… Read the rest...

By Dylan Vernon, (TIME COME #2, 17 October 2023)

As one of the citizens who signed the Oceana Belize petition, I welcome the passage of the Bill by the House of Representatives on 13 October 2023 to amend the Referendum Act. When passed by the Senate, the amendment will ensure that Belizeans are consulted by referendum before any move to change or repeal the moratorium placed on offshore oil and natural gas exploration and petroleum operations. Recalling that the original referendum petition called for a constitutional amendment to require a referendum for changing the offshore moratorium, it is a good time to start a national discussion on environmental rights in the Belize Constitution.

A Sudden Appearance

First of all, let us examine how the term “protect the environment” made it into the Preamble of the Independence Constitution of Belize and understand its significance. In February 1981, the term “protect the environment” was totally absent from the government’s White Paper on the Proposed Terms for the Constitution for an Independent Belize. Yet, there it was in the Preamble of our Constitution on 21 September 1981 – giving Belize claim, at that time, to being only the second state in the Commonwealth Caribbean (Guyana being the first in 1980) to have a constitutional reference to the environment.… Read the rest...