Controversial 13th Amendment Bill Nears Second Reading in House

The proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution can soon be brought back to the House of Representatives for a second reading. As per the procedure within the National Assembly, any proposed amendments to the constitution have a mandatory 90-day waiting period after being introduced before they can be brought for a second reading. That period expires next week on August 26. First introduced in May, the controversial 13^th Amendment Bill seeks to address issues of crime and public safety by granting the Governor General the power to declare “special zones”. Law enforcement personnel would then have expanded powers within these zones, including the ability to search and detain people without a warrant. The amendment would also establish a special court to handle firearms and gang-related cases, as well as retroactively validate past state of emergency declarations made by the government. While many support the Bill as a means of reducing violent crime, others have raised concerns about the possible human rights violations if security forces are given that much power. During the waiting period, the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee of the House held public consultations on the Bill. Minister of Governance Henry Charles Usher says the Committee will have to review those recommendations and submit a report to the National Assembly.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Governance: “During that period, the House Committee has public consultation. They are meeting with the public to hear the public’s view on this particular piece of legislation. I think it was the chair of the House Committee, Honorable Julius Espat, he chairs that particular committee. And at the first meeting of the House Committee he asked the committee members to support having public consultations and I certainly supported that. It’s part of the government’s promise from 2020 to have an open government, to have a participatory democracy, to hear directly from the people. So I think this was an important exercise to hear what the public was saying in reference to this particular bill to amend the Constitution. So we’ve had two public consultations, one here in Belize City and one in Belmopan and those contributions, recommendations, comments made by the public have been put in a report form and the House Committee will then meet to go over all of the different comments and suggestions made and then we’ll submit that report to the National Assembly when the bill is brought back for second reading.”

Usher added that the Committee has made various avenues available for the public to voice their opinions on the Bill and encourages all Belizeans to join the conversation. 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Governance: “I think that the opportunities for the public to be able to comment on this bill  go beyond just the public consultations. They can submit it in writing and send it into the Clerk of the National Assembly. We’ve widely circulated the emails that the Clerk of the National Assembly utilizes for public comments as well. So persons who could not make it to the consultations always have that opportunity to send in their email, send in their recommendations in writing, et cetera. So I think that this is an opportunity for the public to really want to comment on this particular issue. They have the opportunity to do so. You know, it’s a fair point that you raise and certainly in an ideal situation we would have as many public consultations as possible. But remember, this is a House committee process as well. This isn’t just oh let’s go out and debate the 13th Amendment. The public can do that at any time. All of these different educational institutions can also engage in that, I would encourage UB to have something that would give both sides of the argument when it comes to the 13th Amendment. But the House Committee is a process of the National Assembly and there certain rules that the House Committee has to follow.  And definitely in terms of reaching out to the public, the House Committee has done that.”

Members of Belize’s legal fraternity have heavily criticized the language of the Bill for being too vague. They also say that it could give rise to legislation that disproportionately targets certain groups./