The Judicial Education Institute of the Senior Courts of Belize Launches Its Criminal Law Practitioners Programme

29th September 2026
The Judicial Education Institute of the Senior Courts of Belize Launches Its Criminal Law Practitioners Programme
Belize City, Belize – Chief Justice, Honourable Mde. Louise Esther Blenman is pleased to announce the official launch of the Criminal Law Practitioners Programme (CLPP), a landmark professional development initiative of the Judicial Education Institute (JEI) of the Senior Courts of Belize, implemented with the financial support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the European Union-funded Partnership of the Caribbean and European Union on Justice (PACE Justice) programme.
The CLPP is a specialised training programme designed to strengthen professional capacity across Belize’s criminal justice system. The training targets members of the Bar Association of Belize, the Association of Defence Attorneys, Legal Aid Department, the Attorney General’s Chambers, Prosecutors from the Director of Public Prosecutor’s Office, Police Prosecutors, and recently graduated law students in Belize. The focus is to provide training to criminal law practitioners in Belize and to attract civil practitioners to do criminal law work and expand the pool of criminal law practitioners. It aims to provide participants with practical training in criminal law and procedure, evidence, advocacy, case preparation, ethics and professional responsibility. Through a combination of substantive instruction and skills-based learning, the programme seeks to promote professional excellence and strengthen competencies among criminal law practitioners and support the fair and effective administration of criminal justice.
This initiative forms part of the Senior Courts of Belize’s Strategic Plan and reflects the Judiciary’s ongoing commitment to building a modern, responsive and accessible justice system and to enhancing public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The official launch of the programme will be held on Friday, 2nd October 2026 at 9:00 a.m., in the Main Courtroom of the Senior Courts of Belize, Treasury Lane, Belize City, and will formally mark the commencement of this important initiative.
The Judicial Education Institute extends its sincere appreciation to the European Union, UNDP and PACE Justice for their partnership and support in making this programme possible.
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Press Release – Criminal Law Practitioners Programme September 2026