Belize govt to introduce legislation for solving pile-up criminal cases

Belmopan: To solve the piled-up criminal cases in the past years, the Government of Belize has decided to introduce legislation into the parliament. The announcement came after the weekly Cabinet meeting. The government officials noted a bill would be presented in the next sitting of the House of Representatives, adding that this decision has been taken to 'resolve numerous issues arising from jury trials offences and to seek to clear the backlog of pending criminal matters'. The bill will contain those offences which are to be ruled by one Judge and for pleas that to be taken virtually. These offences include - sexual offences, abduction of a child, offences under the trafficking in individuals and as well as offences, which comes under the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Prohibition) Act.  "The government led by Prime Minister Johnny Briceno will be seeking the approval from the National Assembly, in order to strike a balance between the prosecution of the reputation of a person, the freedom of speech and expression, and also to update the tort of libel and slander law," the statement issued by the Belizean government underscores.  This is indeed a good step taken in the right direction by the government of the Caribbean island, which will assist Belize to finish the long-pending criminal cases, serving justice to the ones who gave up their hopes on the law.  The crime rate of Belize: The study findings show that Belize is among the countries who are having the highest per capita murder rates in the world. The island has been witnessing an increase in a violent crimes such as - armed robberies, home incursions, murders, rapes over the past years, which are now an obstacle in the growth and development of the country. The gang-related violence also takes place in Belize City and frequently in the area to the south of the Haulover Creek (called Southside).