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New Sheriff in Town - Taking on the Role of DPP in Belize

by Rory Field

Barrister Rory Field reflects on his two-year stint as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Belize in Central America.

I have always felt that we lawyers have the time, if we so choose, to give back to society, without harming our careers in the process. The most valuable thing we have to give is often the knowledge, skills and standards that we have learnt during our education and legal careers. As a lawyer with an interest in human rights, I felt that I could achieve a great deal in Belize from within the system, principally in improving the fairness of the legal system to the average user. I was not too worried that I would be leading the prosecution team, I had prosecuted as well as defended when I was working in London and felt comfortable in both roles. However, I first realised the full extent of the task I had taken on when I saw a local newspaper article concerning my arrival in Belize entitled "New Sheriff in Town". The use of the word "Sheriff" suggested that some people at least expected me to be the scourge of the criminal and perhaps might not appreciate the more neutral role I intended to take on. Fortunately, the young and dynamic Attorney-General, Godfrey Smith, was well aware of my aims and I knew that he would be as supportive as the realities of political office allowed him to be.

Background

Belize is an English-speaking, sovereign state and a member of the Commonwealth, and is set on the Caribbean coast of Central America. It has a land mass the size of Wales. In terms of tourist attractions, it has the second longest barrier reef in the world, with the associated pleasures of snorkelling and scuba diving and world-class sea fishing. It also benefits from huge swathes of virgin jungle, dotted with magnificent Mayan ruins and patrolled by a host of animals, birds and insects. It even boasts a startling five different species of big cats. But I was not a tourist and of more immediate concern to me on arrival was the human landscape and the systems which controlled it.

I arrived during a period when the Office of the DPP and the legal system as a whole had hit rocky times. My predecessor had had a serious falling out with the Commissioner of Police, which had degenerated into a battle played out across the national media. Simultaneously, the judiciary had been weakened by the political removal of an honest Chief Justice, while a less scrupulous judge, who regarded himself as the future Chief Justice, remained on the judiciary. To make matters worse, the numbers of violent crimes, particularly murder, were soaring. At the same time, incidences of violence and abuses of suspects by the police had reached wholly unacceptable levels.

One of my first achievements was to build a good relationship and level of trust with the new Commissioner of Police and the other senior officers within the force. This helped facilitate the acceptance of my constructive criticisms. I was even able to advise the police on their human rights responsibilities. I made sure that any police misconduct was subject to strict scrutiny and, if appropriate, criminal charges. An excellent new Chief Justice was brought in from a UN position in East Timor and the would-be Chief Justice was removed from the judiciary. Sadly, violent crime remained rife.

Money laundering and asset confiscation

I was determined that the issue of money laundering and the necessity of taking all possible steps to combat it was highlighted to the legal community and brought to the attention of the politicians. Relevant legislation existed on the statute books but it was not being used and my intention was to change this. Money laundering is a close cousin to corruption and the best way to deal with it is to never allow it to get a firm foothold in the first place. I was aware that Belize had a fledgling offshore banking industry that could be a target for launderers. I was also aware of Belize's geographical position on the route between the cocaine producers in South America and the main consumer, the United States. This suggested to me that not only the product but the profits from the product might be siphoned through Belize.

I decided we needed help. I was Belize's representative at a high-level ministerial conference in Trinidad and Tobago, where the US representative was Janet Reno. I used the opportunity to seek out contacts with the US State Department and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and request their assistance. I also set the scene domestically. I organised the first prosecution conference in Belize, to which I persuaded the ever-helpful DPP of Sydney (and current Chair of the International Association of Prosecutors), Nicholas Cowdery, to deliver a paper. The DPP of Barbados, Charles Leacock, provided support from the Caribbean region. The conference was entitled "Prosecution: The Way Forward" and dealt with the internationalisation of crime and the dangers that came with that. The audience of judges, politicians, lawyers, police, magistrates and media reacted positively to the message of the conference.

My next move was to set up an ad hoc financial intelligence unit with the Commissioner of Police and Governor of the Central Bank. This put the issue firmly on the multidisciplinary agenda. I then utilised the CFATF contact and arranged a money laundering conference. This conference provided the platform from which I instigated Belize's first money-laundering related asset seizures. Thereafter, when several cocaine hauls in the 1,000-2,000 kilogram range occurred, the new machinery I had planned went into action. On meeting the IMF, I was able to explain how far we had come but I accepted that this was only the beginning. A significant achievement on this front was an invitation to a DEA conference in Costa Rica where those inviting me gave specific congratulations to Belize for advances made in this area.

New approaches to crime

My position required a proactive approach, a quick learning curve and imagination. It was not enough to simply be an effective lawyer with correct standards who could run a department efficiently. That was not going to make enough difference or effect real change. I was determined to look outside my everyday office responsibilities in order to find out what other issues could be wrestled with. I endeavoured to kick-start prosecutions for environmental crime and as such made close contacts with the heads of the Belize Environmental Agency. I targeted crimes of sex and violence within the family, particularly those aimed at women and children. I was determined not to turn a blind eye to these crimes while I was in office. I made close contacts with the leaders of the Mennonite community, who have a policy of non-violence and relative lack of political power, to ensure that their rights were not lost. I produced a code for prosecutors. The purpose of this was to gain some degree of consistency in decision making, as well as provide a practical guide for the prosecutor. A first annual report was prepared. I analysed and reported on proposed alterations in legislation which related to sentencing. I implemented a policy of briefing out cases to the private bar which went some way to breaking down the split between prosecutors and defence lawyers, as well as removing the suggestion that it was somehow wrong for a defence lawyer to prosecute.

I helped instigate the country's first computer software copyright piracy prosecution in Belize, a task that at one point involved me flying to Hong Kong in order to view material. During the investigation, I made invaluable contacts with lawyers and investigators in this specialist area, both in Hong Kong, the United States and South America. I was hosted by the ICAC, the Hong Kong anti-corruption police, and taken deep into the mechanics of a related crime syndicate whose operations spanned the globe. The transnational nature of the crime required me at one point to seek the assistance of the DPP of Jamaica in seizing containers full of machinery and articles for the production of pirated software of a value in excess of $100 million.

During my term of office, I prosecuted every Court of Appeal case, as well as many jury trials. These included a five-handed three-month rape and murder trial. In a child sex murder case, set against the background of a serial child killer at work in Belize, I had to utilise an FBI expert from Quantico, United States, in relation to DNA evidence. My last two cases were the contract killing of a millionairess, which had been carried out while her four-year-old child sat in the car with her, as well as the brutal gang killing and dismemberment of a prisoner by a fellow prisoner. I also found myself in London at the Privy Council in two memorable murder appeals: R v Norman Shaw (2001) and R v Cleon Smith (2001).

Conclusion

In my time in Belize, I had to learn many skills. Perhaps the most important were those of man management. This was a world where there were few qualified people with a big cake to carve up between them. Because of this, obtaining, motivating and keeping the right staff was absolutely key to success. I was fortunate that during a number of overseas conferences early on in my time as DPP I was able to recruit quality staff. This then allowed me to free up time so that I could look at developing specific areas rather than simply firefighting and crisis managing, which could so easily be the fate of an outsider taking on the position.

Was the two years worthwhile? Personally I had a fascinating and memorable experience. I like to think that Belize benefited equally. It is not easy to make a change. It is even harder to obtain continuity of change. But it is only by going out there and taking on these challenges that change is ever likely to happen.

1 July 2002

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