Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 37

VIEWS
Cleaning Windows: Judicial Transparency in Belize
Justice Sonya Young is a Supreme Court Justice for the state of Belize. She previously served as the Chief
Magistrate in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Your childhood may not have in the free-flow architecture of our modern
had a Caribbean flavour as living spaces, where walls are few, curtains are
mine did, but I am certain passé and blinds have become archaic (how apt).
that whichever region of the While business experts hail it as a fundamental
world you hail from, you are virtue of any successful enterprise, the media
familiar with the tiresome make clarion calls for freedom of information,
task of window cleaning. especially as it relates to the government and
As laborious and time- political issues, insisting on the world’s right to
consuming as it often was, know and to understand.
however, my own small community understood
its value. By removing the dirty build-up, we As for the universal judicial system, it has set
allowed the warm and illuminating sunlight this freedom as a bastion which weaves its way
to shine through, and our homes
through the guarantee of a fair and
were brighter and happier for it.
public hearing by an independent,
Cleaning those windows also gave
ethical and impartial tribunal. It
a clearer perspective on all that We
acknowledge is the cornerstone of the Bangalore
transpired outside; we saw our
of Judicial Conduct. In
that there can only Principles
neighbours’ needs, and they saw
Belize, transparency is embedded
ours. We all benefitted from the be benefits to being in the Constitution of Belize (1981)
selfless offer of assistance.
accountable and and forms an integral part of the
Code of Judicial Conduct and
that
transparency
We were then our brother’s keeper,
Etiquette (2003).
and the apparent lack of privacy
is a virtue which
caused little, if any,
concern.
As a judge, I think of window
finds
no
companion
Then came progress; money to
cleaning whenever the issue of
purchase window curtains that in corruption.
transparency arises; it gives me
too quickly yielded their cheerful,
perspective. Granted, the mere
lacy aspect for a firmer ‘black out’
sound of the word sometimes
countenance and blinds (how apt). Privacy provokes fear or nervousness. Perhaps we feel
sensitivities cleared the path for secrecy that our own privacy would be so invaded that
and distrust; neighbours became nosey and we could no longer enjoy it. Or perhaps being
sometimes unrecognizable as we each huddled transparent demands a vulnerability which
in the safety of our own opaque chambers, we would be terrified to show. But as judges,
afraid to ask for, or to accept, the help that had we ask society to trust that we will make
previously been the norm.
sound judgments. Judgments which many can
neither read nor understand, and which are
Thankfully, openness and honesty have seen given by persons whose existence they discover
a recent revival, or perhaps experienced a only when the appointment makes the news.
renewed recognition. Transparency is present Once appointed, we so often fail to appreciate
37