Belize.

Latin America (Central America).

English.

324,000.

Abolitionist de facto.

The last execution took place in 1985.

1985 The last execution in Belize took place in 1985 when one prisoner was executed for murder.

Hanging.

Executions are carried out by hanging within the prison where the prisoner is confined.

0.

No one was known to be on death row at the end of 2020.

In July 2015, the Supreme Court of Belize overturned the death sentence of the last remaining person on death row, finding that his sentence was unconstitutional. No death sentences have been handed down since 2005.

(This question was last updated on November 30, 2021.).

No. While no executions have been carried out since 1985, Belize continues to support capital punishment. Belize has voted against all four U.N. General Assembly resolutions for a global moratorium on executions, most recently in 2012.

Article 3 guarantees the right to “life, liberty, security of the person, and the protection of the law.” The right to life is limited by Article 4(1), which states that “a person shall not be deprived of his life intentionally save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offense.” Article 7 provides that “No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.”

Article 53(e) provides a distinctive procedure for capital cases to be referred to the Governor General for potential clemency. Several articles prohibit those sentenced to death from holding political office as Senators or members of the House of Representatives.

Aggravated Murder.

The law defines “Class A murders” as murders committed in the course of or in furtherance of theft, murders by shooting or explosion, murder committed in the course of resisting arrest or escaping prison, murder of a police or prison officer, and any murder “related to illegal drugs or criminal gang activity.” All murders, defined as intentionally causing the death of another person by unlawful harm, are punishable by death.

Murder.

Any murder which is not a Class A murder is defined as a Class B murder, and includes murder committed without aggravating circumstances. All murders, defined as intentionally causing the death of another person by unlawful harm, are punishable by death. Where a member of the military commits the civil offense of murder outside Belize and is convicted by a court martial, he is liable to suffer death.

Treason.

Where a member of the military commits the civil offense of treason outside Belize and is convicted by a court martial, he is liable to suffer death.

Military Offenses Not Resulting in Death.

Under the Defence Act of 1978, a number of offenses applicable to members of the military, usually treasonous acts carried out for the benefit of an enemy, are punishable by death. Surrendering or abandoning a place to the enemy or failing to use one’s “utmost exertions” to carry out a superior’s order is punishable by death if these acts were done with the intent to assist the enemy. Providing intelligence to the enemy, even under circumstances of captivity, and protecting an enemy are also punishable by death if there was an intent to assist the enemy. Willfully imperiling or delaying a military action to benefit the enemy is also death-eligible. Taking part in a mutiny, inciting another person in active service to mutiny, or failing to report the mutiny to benefit the enemy, are punishable by death.

War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide.

A person who commits genocide, according to the definition of the Genocide Convention, is liable to suffer death if the offense consists in the killing of any person.

Comments.

The distinction between Class A and Class B murders is no longer significant in relation to capital punishment, since all forms of murder are punishable by death. Prior to the Reyes ruling of 2002, however, Class A murders attracted the mandatory death penalty. In Reyes, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the final court of appeal for Belize) struck down the mandatory death penalty as an inhuman punishment.

In Reyes v. The Queen, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (“JCPC”) (at that time the highest court of appeal for Belize) struck down the mandatory death penalty as an inhuman punishment.

By the end of our research, we were unable to confirm that the Criminal Code has been amended to reflect this jurisprudence. (The latest version of the Belize Criminal Code that we have been able to obtain was current to December 31, 2000, before Reyes was decided, and contains the mandatory language struck down in Reyes for Class A or aggravated murders). However, we do know that courts in Belize do not apply the mandatory death penalty. In Pipersburgh v. The Queen, which post-dates Reyes, the trial court had allowed the defendants, who had been convicted of Class A murder, to show why they should not be executed, which suggests that Belize courts now consider mitigating factors to determine sentencing even for aggravated murders. The JCPC confirmed that this was an obligatory step in all capital cases. Furthermore, the JCPC ruled that after the defendant adduces evidence of mitigating circumstances, the burden shifts to the prosecution to rebut the presumption of the right to life.

Comments.

There is no mandatory death penalty in Belize (see question on mandatory death penalty above).

Individuals Below Age 18 at Time of Crime.

An individual who committed a death-eligible crime while under the age of 18 will be sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death. This conforms with Belize’s international obligations as a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides that no child under the age of 18 shall be subject to capital punishment.

Pregnant Women.

Pregnant women will be sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor instead of death.

Intellectually Disabled.

A defendant is deemed to have been “insane” and is exempt from criminal liability “if he was prevented by reason of idiocy, imbecility or any mental derangement or disease affecting the mind, from knowing the nature or consequences of the act in respect of which he is accused.” The Criminal Code provides specifically for diminished responsibility in cases of murder. If a defendant who is party to a killing can show that he suffered from such “abnormality of mind” due to “arrested or retarded development or any inherent causes or caused by disease or injury,” as “substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts,” he cannot be sentenced to death for murder. In other words, individuals with severe intellectual disabilities may be excused from criminal liability if their disabilities are proven to “cause” their criminal behavior. Where a direct causal relationship is not proven, however, we found no law that provides that such individuals shall not be sentenced to death."

Mentally Ill.

A defendant is deemed to have been “insane” and is exempt from criminal liability “if he was prevented by reason of idiocy, imbecility or any mental derangement or disease affecting the mind, from knowing the nature or consequences of the act in respect of which he is accused.” A defendant is also deemed insane if he acted “under the influence of a delusion of such a nature as to render him, in the opinion of the jury, an unfit subject for punishment of any kind.” The Criminal Code specifically provides for diminished responsibility in cases of murder. If a defendant who is party to a killing can show that he suffered from such “abnormality of mind” due to “arrested or retarded development or any inherent causes or caused by disease or injury,” as “substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts,” he cannot be sentenced to death for murder. However, we found no law indicating that individuals who develop a severe mental illness after they are convicted and sentenced to death are ineligible for execution."

Comments.

None. No executions have been carried out since 1985.

In Mejia v. Attorney General in 2001, the Belize Supreme Court adopted as a constitutional principle the holding of Pratt & Morgan v. The Queen, establishing the presumption that those held under sentence of death for 5 or more years have been subjected to inhuman treatment and must thus have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment (although we have not located a Court of Appeal decision on the matter, this principle continues to be applied).

Other important cases were determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the Commonwealth court of final appeal for Belize before June 1, 2010. In 2002, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in Reyes v. The Queen that the mandatory death penalty is inhuman and thus unconstitutional in Belize and that courts must consider mitigating circumstances in all cases of murder. In 2007, the JCPC held in Pipersburgh v. The Queen that Belize’s subsequent practice of placing the burden on defendants to prove why they should not be executed is inhuman and thus unconstitutional, and ruled that the prosecution must rebut the presumption created by any mitigating factors to show why the murder was of the “most exceptional and extreme” sort. Furthermore, the JCPC emphasized the importance of psychiatric evaluations for defendants in capital cases.

While many commonwealth Caribbean countries use “savings clauses” to prevent constitutional review of existing laws and punishments, the limited savings clause in Belize’s Constitution expired in 1986. Savings clauses in most commonwealth Caribbean countries preserve the authority of laws “obtained at the time of independence” or sometimes the penalties legally administered before independence. Such clauses effectively bar all legal challenges to the death penalty.

On June 1, 2010, Belize replaced the JCPC with the Caribbean Court of Justice as the court of final appeal, so future decisions related to the death penalty will emanate from the CCJ instead of the JCPC.

The Preamble to the Constitution requires policies that further international peace and establish a “just and equitable international economic and social order in the world with respect for international law and treaty obligations.”

Although the ICCPR came into force in September 1996, Belize has never submitted a national report concerning its human rights record, as required under article 40 of the Covenant. The Human Rights Committee nevertheless examined the human rights situation in Belize in the absence of a national report at its 2960th meeting on March 15, 2013. At the time of research, the Committee had not yet published its final conclusions on its review, but the advance version of its report did not contain any discussion of the death penalty. The advance version of the report did inquire into the operation of the Kolbe Foundation, a private foundation that runs Belize’s prison.

Because Belize is not a party to the Optional Protocol, the Human Rights Committee does not issue decisions on petitions by individuals.

Belize was reviewed by the Human Rights Council at the 17th session of the Universal Periodic Review working group on October 28, 2013. At the time of research, the Human Rights Council had not released a concluding report. However, Belize was recommended to abolish the death penalty during the review. At its Universal Periodic Review before the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2009, Belize received a recommendation to abolish the death penalty in its legislation. Belize declined this recommendation, stating that “the complete abolition of capital punishment in its internal legislation requires extensive national consultations given the nature of the issues involved,” and adding that the government did not have “a mandate” to effect these changes. Belize also refused to adhere to the protocols of the ICCPR because it retained the death penalty in its constitution.

Yes. The law requires that an indigent person charged with a capital offense be assigned counsel by the court under the legal aid scheme. The legal aid system is crippled by insufficient resources, though it seems that those most affected by the lack of funding are indigent people charged with serious non-capital offenses.

Yes. A Court may appoint counsel to indigent death-sentenced appellants.

Many cases are thrown out or commuted because of trial errors.

The Supreme Court of Belize, which has unlimited original jurisdiction to hear criminal proceedings, issues a sentence, which the defendant can then appeal to the Belize Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court sits four times a year in the exercise of its criminal jurisdiction. Before June 1, 2010, the defendant could then file a leave to appeal with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the Commonwealth court of appeal). Since the 2009 amendment to the Belize Constitution, appeals from the Belize Court of Appeal filed on or after June 1, 2010 are heard by the Caribbean Court of Justice. Appeals are as-of-right when based on constitutionally protected fundamental rights.

Prior to the execution of any capital sentence, the Attorney General must obtain a written report from the judge that presided over the trial and obtain other necessary information for consideration by the Belize Advisory Council. The Belize Advisory Council is formed of 7 people, 2 of whom represent the Prime Minister, and 2 of whom represent the leader of the opposition. The Advisory Council determines based on majority vote whether to advise the Governor-General to grant clemency, and the Governor General must act “in accordance with the advice of the Belize Advisory Council.”

Until August 2011, all capital cases were tried by a judge and 12 jurors. While juries determine guilt and the offense for which a defendant is convicted, a judge makes sentencing decisions after hearing juries’ recommendations. Legislation passed in August 2011 stipulates that nonjury trials are mandatory for trials relating to murder, attempt to murder, abetment of murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. A single Supreme Court judge now hears these cases.

All prisoners and detainees are held in the country’s one prison, the Belize Central Prison which is located in Hattieville in the outskirts of Belize City. Belize’s prison system is run by the Kolbe Foundation, a private non-profit organization founded by Rotary Club members in 2002 to reform the penitentiary system with a focus on humane facilities and rehabilitation. We found no information on whether death-sentenced inmates would be held separately from other prisoners. However, when maximum security prisoners are held in the remand section of the prison due to lack of space, they are usually held in individual cells.

Belize’s one prison, the Belize Central Prison, is run by the Kolbe Foundation, a private non-profit organization founded by Rotary Club members in 2002 to reform the penitentiary system with a focus on humane facilities and rehabilitation. The government retains oversight and monitoring responsibility. Prison conditions have improved significantly since the Kolbe Foundation assumed responsibility for prison operations. The Foundation initiated rehabilitation and education programs and overhauled staff training to improve security, improve inmate treatment and end corruption. While the prison used to suffer from overcrowding and prison guard brutality, there have been no recent reports of abuse or excessive use of force, and the total prison population is now below the institution’s capacity. The normal prison population is housed in cells that accommodate 4 to 6 people. Pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners, juveniles and adults, and men and women are held in separate facilities. Maximum-security prisoners also seem to be held apart from the general prison population; when they are housed in the remand section, they are held in individual cells. Inmates have access to potable water, daily visits and on-site medical care, and religious observance is permitted. Inmates can lodge complaints with the Ombudsman’s office, reportedly without censorship. Conditions in the women’s section are much better than in the rest of the prison. Nevertheless, the prison reportedly fails to meet all international standards. Furthermore, the Belize Public Health Authorities released a report, highlighting unsanitary kitchen facilities and female holding cells. Prison authorities promised to take corrective action. We found no specific information on the prison conditions of death-sentenced prisoners.

We found no reports of foreign nationals known to be under the sentence of death. Additionally, we believe that no one is currently held under sentence of death.

We found no reports of foreign nationals known to be under the sentence of death. Additionally, we believe that no one is currently held under sentence of death.

The only woman to have been sentenced to death in Belize was Nora Parham, who was executed in 1963. Additionally, we believe that no one is currently held under sentence of death.

We found no reports of juveniles under sentence of death, and we believe that no one is currently held under sentence of death. However, according to local media reports, at least one prisoner, Gilroy Wade, was sentenced to death when he was 17 years old, despite Belize’s legal exclusion of such individuals from execution. His death sentence was later commuted by the Privy Council. Amnesty International notes that no juveniles have been executed in Belize since it started keeping records in 1990.

We believe that no one is currently held under sentence of death. Our research did not uncover any information about the composition of death row in recent years.

The most significant recent changes involve the extent of court discretion during sentencing when defendants face capital charges. In 2002, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in Reyes v. The Queen that the mandatory death penalty is inhuman and thus unconstitutional in Belize and that courts must consider mitigating circumstances in all cases of murder. In 2007, the JCPC held in Pipersburgh v. The Queen that Belize’s subsequent practice of placing the burden on defendants to prove why they should not be executed is inhuman and thus unconstitutional, and ruled that the prosecution must rebut any presumption of mitigating factors and show why the murder was the “most exceptional and extreme” sort. These decisions limit the death penalty vastly from its ambit prior to 2002.

In 1993, the JCPC held in Pratt & Morgan v. The Queen (decided on appeal from Jamaica) that individuals held under sentence of death for 5 years or longer have presumptively been subjected to inhuman treatment and must have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. As indicated by the Belize Supreme Court in Mejia v. Attorney General in 2001, Belize courts follow this decision (although we have not found a Court of Appeal decision on the matter, this decision continues to be applied). As pointed out by the Caribbean Court of Justice, the effect of Pratt has been to limit executions.

Following a constitutional amendment, the Caribbean Court of Justice replaced the JCPC as the court of final appeal for Belize on June 1, 2010, a move which one might think would impair the application of Reyes and Pratt and their progeny. However, in limiting application of Pratt in other jurisdictions, the CCJ has not questioned its legal validity (although it has indicated that it might allow more than 5 years for an appeals process prior to commuting death sentences)—rather, it has concentrated on constitutional limitations on human rights-based challenges to death sentences. In Belize, a limited savings clause that would have prevented such challenges expired long ago in 1986, and the 2009 Amendment to the Constitution explicitly enables fundamental rights-based challenges as of right to the CCJ. Furthermore, the Belize Supreme Court has already adopted Pratt as constitutional principle and under its own doctrine of stare decisis cannot easily now depart from Pratt, so the CCJ may be unlikely to depart from the ruling. Limitation of Reyes and Pipersburgh is similarly unlikely.

The government attempted to further facilitate application of the death penalty by submitting the Belize Constitution Eighth Amendment Act before Parliament in 2011. The amendment would have amended section 7 of the Constitution prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment, to allow a death sentence or execution by any means. The proposal was ultimately withdrawn following petitions to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the Death Penalty Project and the Human Rights Commission of Belize.

None.

None.

The website of the Judiciary of Belize provides access to selected Supreme Court criminal judgments since 1977 at http://www.belizejudiciary.org/web/judgements2. A comprehensive collection of Court of Appeal judgments on criminal appeals since 1977 are available on the same website at: http://www.belizejudiciary.org/web/judgements3. The Caribbean Court of Justice, the final court of appeal for Belize since June 2010, provides case summaries and judgments on its website at: http://www.caribbeancourtofjustice.org/judgments-proceedings/appellate-jurisdiction-judgments. You can search the collection using keyword searches. Prior to May 31, 2010, the ultimate appellate court was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. All of the Privy Council’s judgments issued after July 2009 can be found on its website at http://www.jcpc.gov.uk/decided-cases/index.html. Earlier Privy Council judgments can be found on BAILII at http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC. The Privy Council Papers website provides detailed case records for all appeals considered by the JCPC between 1792 and 1998: http://www.privycouncilpapers.org.

Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty in the English-Speaking Caribbean: A Human Rights Issue, Index: AMR/05/001/2012, Nov. 30, 2012.

None.