Attorney-General Godfrey Smith has defended Belize's...

Attorney-General Godfrey Smith has defended Belize's position on the death penalty before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Smith travelled to Washington to appear at a hearing to review the situation of the death penalty in Belize.
The hearing was called on behalf of prisoners sentenced to death for murder, who felt that the proposed amendment to the Belize Constitution, regarding appeals to the Privy Council, was incompatible with Belize's treaty obligations concerning the protection of human rights and therefore recommended its withdrawal. Belize contended that the commission had no jurisdiction to examine the compatibility of any domestic legislation with any international instrument. Such jurisdiction is reserved for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and can only be invoked at the request of a member state of the Organization of American States [OAS].
Belize further contended that such an exercise would be tantamount to an intervention in the internal jurisdiction of Belize.
The attorney-general also pointed out that it would be premature for the commission to engage in any consideration or conclusion on the proposal as there was no actual legislation in front of them.
The bill for an act to amend the Belize Constitution has not been debated in either House of the National Assembly, and there is no saying whether, and in what ultimate form the bill may eventually be enacted.
On behalf of Belize, the attorney-general called on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to consider the fundamental right of Belize to legislate as it sees fit, in terms which did not derogate from any international instrument to which Belize is a party.