Commentary by G. Michael Reid – In the days before the French Revolution, the citizens of France were divided into three classes known as estates; namely the clergy, the nobles and the commoners. A similar system exists to this day in the United Kingdom with some differences between the Lords Temporal, the Lords Spiritual and the Commons. As a matter of fact, the three estates as they exist today might be simpler categorized as rich, poor and church; with the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the church fading into oblivion. Interestingly enough, while under the ancien regime of France, the church was considered a part of the First Estate; under the British system, “the faith once delivered unto the saints” is relegated to the realm of commoners; clearly demonstrative of the ever diminishing role of what used to be the most powerful and influential body on earth. This essay, however, is not about the church or even about the three estates but instead about a fourth.
The Colour of Journalism in Belize
Commentary: Belize Government Circumventing Constitution
By Frankie Rhys. A very disturbing article appeared in the July 2nd Amandala.
Written by Adele Ramos, it covered the arguments in the Supreme Court
over proposed changes to the Belize Constitution that would affect the
fundamental rights and freedoms of Belizeans.
The law now
in effect requires the Prime Minister to submit any such changes to a
referendum before they can become law, and the United Democratic Party regime in Belize is trying to
circumvent the current law by removing that right to a referendum even
though it is current law; in effect putting the cart before the horse!
Commentary: The Craft of Justice in Belize
By Godfrey Smith – former Attorney General of Belize.
The canons of justice. The notion of justice
based upon the rule of law is a bedrock principle of western-style
parliamentary democracies. It supposedly places a higher value on
human life than a society based, for example, on a dictatorship. It
better upholds the dignity of the human person. But to understand
justice, it should be appreciated that it is a thing created by man and
administered by man. It does not, like the Shakespearean notion of
mercy, “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath.”
Commentary: Belize Telemedia Ltd.
Reid Between the Lines -written by By G. Michael Reid
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