 |
Michel Hannah Chebat, Jr. (born 23 May 1969) is a Belizean lawyer. He has previously served as Chairman of Belize's Social Security Board as well as President of the Bar Association of Belize. [1] [2] [3] He is a partner in the law firm of Shoman and Chebat together with Lisa Shoman. [4]
In 1999, Chebat became an attorney for the Social Security Board, but resigned from that position in August 2006, ostensibly to protest the dismissal of CEO Narda Garcia. At the end of the month, however, Chebat rejoined the SSB, succeeding his law partner Lisa Shoman's father Yasin Shoman as Board chairman. [4] During his chairmanship, Chebat oversaw a feasibility study for the implementation of non-contributory pensions, the rollout of national health insurance, [5] and the creation of a new logo. [6] He was succeeded in February 2008 by Lois Young, the ex-wife of Prime Minister Dean Barrow. [7] [8]
Chebat was elected Secretary of the Bar Association of Belize in 1999, where he served alongside fellow officers President Fred Lumor, Vice-President Rodwell Williams, and Treasurer Edwin Flowers. [9] He was re-elected to another two-year term in that position in 2001, in a vote that was seen as a referendum on the removal of Justice George Meerabux from the Supreme Court of Belize. [10] He was later elected President of the Bar Association. In that position, he spoke out against lack of enforcement of environmental laws, as well as the long wait for civil cases to be heard in Belize's overloaded court system. [11] [12] In 2011, outgoing Chief Justice of Belize Samuel Awich named Chebat and Solicitor-General Cheryl Krusen as Senior Counsels. [13]
Beginning in 2003, Chebat and Simeon Sampson represented two businessman accused of facilitating more than a hundred false Belizean passport applications, in the biggest passport issuance scandal in Belizean history. [14] His clients removed themselves from Belize multiple times during the course of the proceedings, causing years of delays. [15] [16] [17] At one point this led Director of Public Prosecutions Kirk Anderson to suggest that one of them be tried in absentia , though Supreme Court Justice Adolph Lucas ruled against this because the suspect in question had not been arraigned. [18] [19] Chebat successfully defended one suspect against the charges; the other suspect, who remained absent from Belize, apparently had absconded to Lebanon, and was reported dead in a traffic accident there in 2007. [20] [21]
In 2006, Ellis Arnold, Chebat, and Lutchman Sooknandan represented a shopkeeper accused of manslaughter for shooting and killing an employee who was armed with a machete and high on cocaine, but their argument of self-defense was not sufficient to keep the jury from convicting their client; Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. [22] [23]
Beginning in 2011, Chebat began represented the Belize Association of Evangelical Churches and the Council of Churches as an interested party in United Belize Advocacy Movement and Caleb Orozco v Attorney General , a case concerning LGBT rights in Belize. The case is ongoing, though the United Belize Advocacy Movement has been struck out as an interested party for lack of locus standi . [24]
Chebat was born in Belize City. [2] He received his B.A. from Florida International University, where he studied international relations. [1] [2] He went on to the University of the West Indies for his LL.B. and Norman Manley Law School for his Legal Education Certificate. He was called to the bar in 1997. [1]
The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House of Representatives. It is a centre-left Christian democratic party. The party leader is Johnny Briceño, who currently serves as the Prime Minister of Belize.
The Senate is one of the chambers of the National Assembly of Belize. It has 13 members appointed for a five-year term by the Governor General of Belize.
Amandala is a Belizean tabloid newspaper. Published twice weekly, it is Belize's largest newspaper. Amandala was established in 1969 as the print organ of the now-defunct United Black Association for Development (UBAD), but has been politically independent since the mid-1970s. Its offices are located at 3304 Partridge Street in Belize City.
Belizean passports are issued to Belizean citizens to travel outside Belize. The passport is a Caricom passport as Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community.
Lisa Shoman is a Belizean lawyer and politician and the Foreign Minister of Belize from 2007 to 2008. She was previously the Permanent Representative of Belize to the Organisation of American States and served concurrently as Ambassador to the United States from 24 August 2000 until 5 June 2007, when she was appointed Foreign Minister. She was the first woman Ambassador of Belize to the United States. At the same time she was made a member of the Senate of Belize on the recommendation of Prime Minister Said Musa.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Belize face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in Belize in 2016, when the Supreme Court declared Belize's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. Belize's constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which Belizean courts have interpreted to include sexual orientation.
Bernard Quentin Augustus Pitts CBE, often known by his initials as B. Q. Pitts, is a Belizean politician and a member of the United Democratic Party of Belize.
Edmee Yolanda Schakron-Rodríguez is a Belizean activist and People's United Party candidate, best known as the aunt of murder victim Chris Galvez and a founder and president of Belizeans For Justice. Schakron was briefly the PUP standard bearer for the Lake Independence House constituency in 2012, but her candidacy was disallowed due to her dual citizenship at the time in Belize and the United States, after which she renounced U.S. citizenship. Schakron was the unsuccessful PUP nominee for Mayor of Belize City in 2015.
Troadio John Gonzalez is a justice of the Supreme Court of Belize.
The Norman Manley Law School is a law school in Jamaica.
Sir George Noel Brown was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize from 1991 to 1998, the second native-born Belizean to sit in that position.
Samuel Lungole Awich is a Commonwealth jurist, whose career has taken him from his native Uganda to Botswana, the Solomon Islands, and for the past decade Belize.
The Solicitor-General of Belize is a law officer of the government of Belize, subordinate to the Attorney-General of Belize. The office is defined briefly by the Constitution of Belize, which mentions it as one of the ex officio members of the Public Services Commission. In 1999, after Gian Ghandi was removed from the SG position, the role's responsibilities were revised; in particular, court administrative and financial functions were transferred to the Permanent Secretary of the Attorney-General's Ministry, while law drafting became the responsibility of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, then Elson Kaseke. From 2008 to 2009 the office of Solicitor-General was vacant, leading to criticism of PM Dean Barrow.
Elson Kaseke (1967–2011) was a Zimbabwean lawyer. A long-time resident of Belize, he served that country in a variety of capacities including as a legal draftsman and as Solicitor-General before becoming an attorney in private practice there.
Gian Chand Ghandi was a Belizean lawyer. He served as Belize's Solicitor-General for thirteen years before moving to the Ministry of Economic Development.
Lee Mark Chang is a Belizean politician and restaurateur. A member of the United Democratic Party, he was the first ethnic Chinese person to hold the post of President of the Senate of Belize.
The Social Security Board (SSB) is a statutory corporation of Belize which administers the country's Social Security Fund. It was established in 1981 by Part IV of the Social Security Act (SSA).
Rodwell Roosevelt Adlai Williams is a Belizean lawyer. He is a name partner, along with Prime Minister of Belize and United Democratic Party leader Dean Barrow, in the Belize City law firm Barrow & Williams.
The use of cannabis in Belize is common and largely tolerated; however, possession can result in fines or imprisonment. Possession or use of 10 grams or less on private premises was decriminalized in November 2017.
Assad Shoman is a Belizean diplomat, lawyer, historian, and former government minister. He currently serves as a leader of the Belizean delegation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the purpose of resolving the longstanding territorial dispute between Guatemala and Belize.