Supreme Court Judges

Chief Justice, Hon. Madam Louise Esther Blenman is a former Appellate Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the current Chief Justice of Belize. She is the first woman to ever be appointed to the post in Belize.
She is Guyanese by birth and Saint Lucian by naturalization. She obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (Upper Second Honours) from the University of the West Indies in 1986, a Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School in 1988, and a Master of Laws from the University of London with Merit.
Her legal career began in Guyana in 1988 where she served in various capacities including as Acting Deputy Solicitor General in the Attorney General’s Chambers. In 1990, while employed at the Attorney General’s Chambers, she was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship and completed the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Course at the Institute of Advance Legal Studies and the University of London. During this period, was a pupil of Lord Anthony Lester, QC of Herne Hill. In Guyana, she also served as an acting Magistrate in the criminal division of the country’s Magistrate Courts. She practiced at the private bar as an associate to Mr. Rex McKay, SC. and, from 1992 to 2000, she served as a lecturer in law at the University of Guyana.
In September 2000, Justice Blenman was appointed as the Solicitor General of Saint Lucia – a post she held until she was elevated to the bench of the High Court of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in 2003. As a High Court Judge, she served in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla. She also served as a member of several committees, boards and commissions both in Guyana and in the Eastern Caribbean. From January 2010 to January 2016, she served as Chairperson of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s Judicial Education Institute. She was a member of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Mediation Committee. She also served as chair of the Mediation Committees in Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla, Chair of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Sentencing Guidelines Committee and a member of the Criminal Justice Reform Committee in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. She also served as a member of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission of Anguilla.
After serving 9 years as a High Court Judge, Justice Blenman was appointed as a Justice of Appeal Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in 2012. She served for ten years as an appellate judge. On September 2, 2022 she was sworn in as Chief Justice of Belize.

 

Hon. Madame Justice Michell Arana

Justice Arana is a Belizean national. She received her legal training from the University of the West Indies and the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. Justice Arana also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in English (Hons) from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, U.S.A. and a Master of Laws Degree (LLM-with Merit) in Commercial Law from Birmingham University, U.K. She has held positions such as Magistrate, Crown Counsel in the DPP’s office, Legal Advisor to the Social Investment Fund and Registrar General of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in Belize. Justice Arana also has experience as an attorney in private practice for an Offshore Financing Consulting Firm. She has recently lectured in Business Law as Adjunct Law Lecturer for the Masters of Business Administration Program at the University of Belize. Social engagements by Justice Arana include membership in the National Women’s Commission and legal representative of Youth Enhancement Services. Justice Arana was confirmed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize in 2006, and in effect, became the first female to hold that position in Belize. She is a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is the recipient of the International Student of the Year Award from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Justice Arana is also a recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award from SJCJC being recognized as someone who has fulfilled a high level of achievement throughout her professional career. During her tenure as Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Arana has acted in the capacity of Chief Justice on several occasions, during the absence of the substantive Chief Justice from the jurisdiction. In 2020, she was elevated and appointed as the Chief Justice of Belize (Ag.) This appointment recognizes Justice Arana, not only as the first female Chief Justice of Belize, but also as the first Garifuna person to hold the post of Chief Justice of Belize.

Justice Herbert Lord is a Belizean national. He received his legal training from the University of the West Indies (UWI), (LLB-Honors), and the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. Justice Lord also obtained a Certificate in Public Administration from UWI in 1976. He has held appointments of Senior Magistrate and Chief Magistrate.
Justice Lord was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Belize on January I, 2007 and holds the rank of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). He enjoys reading, cycling, and dancing.

Justice Moore is a judge in the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of Belize, sitting in the Southern Administrative District of the Court. She is a dual Belizean/US National. Justice Moore earned her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University of Chicago Law School in 1985. She received a Certificate in Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School in 1996, and also has a Masters in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University. Justice Moore’s Bachelor’s degree is in Government from Lawrence University in Wisconsin in the US.
Prior to her elevation to the bench in 2014, Justice Moore was a sole practitioner primarily representing claimants in human rights cases and doing criminal defence. She was the prosecutor in Belize’s largest money laundering trial, from 2010 to 2012, Justice Moore was the director of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative project in Belize that produced reports on the country’s prosecutorial branch and juvenile justice system as well as conducted training for judicial officers.
Justice Moore has assisted international agencies and government departments in training and legislative and policy reforms on the rights of vulnerable populations, including women, children, refugees, and the disabled. She had been an adjunct lecturer in Human Rights at the University of Belize. In more recent years, Justice Moore teaches part time in the Criminal Justice Pathway at Galen University.

 

 

Justice Francis Mortimer Cumberbatch is Guyanese National, and has been serving as Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize since February 2018. Justice Cumberbatch attended Queens’s College in Guyana. He later attained hi LLB (Hons) at the University of the West Indies, and his Legal Education Certificate at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago.
Justice Cumberbatch’s career path goes across several jurisdictions, and includes: State Counsel at the Attorney General’s Ministry in Guyana; Senior State Counsel at the Director of Public Prosecution’s Chamber in Guyana; Private Practicing Attorney at Ashmead Chamber in Guyana; Assistant Director of Legal Affairs at the Attorney General’s Ministry in the Commonwealth of Bahamas; High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, sitting in Saint Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua, and Anguilla. In 2011, Justice Cumberbatch was appointed as the Presiding Judge of the High Court in Saint Lucia.
Justice Cumberbatch enjoys reading, and sports, including motor racing, cricket, and football.

 

 

Justice Sonya Young is British-born and a national of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Belize. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and acquired her Certificate of Legal Education in 1996. She also holds a postgraduate certificate in Competition Law from the University of the West Indies. She is a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) trainer in Judicial Conduct and Ethics.
Before her appointment to her current position, as a Civil Judge of the Supreme Court of Belize, she was the Chief Magistrate in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines where she presided over the Serious Offences Court for six years. She has worked in the Family Court and as Deputy Registrar of the High Court/ Deputy Registrar General in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Registrar of the High Court / Registrar General in Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands. She has also acted as Chief Registrar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
Justice Young has a special interest in the mentorship of girls and young women and has been a reappointed member of the Constitution Committee of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. She is married with one son.

 

The Honorable Lisa M Shoman is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize and was first
appointed in September 2020. Her current appointment is until January 2029. She sits on the Civil Division and serves as the current Chair of the National Mediation Commission. Justice Shoman is currently serving a second full term as President of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Administrative Tribunal. Judge Shoman is also the Vice-President of the Caribbean Community Administrative Tribunal. Justice Shoman is a former Senior Counsel and Attorney-at-Law in Belize who was called to the Bar in 1988 after attending Norman Manley Law School and the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies from 1983-1986. She also completed the Master of Laws program at UWI in 1992. She served as a Court-certified Mediator and as an Arbitrator and an Umpire in Arbitrations. Her practice included Constitutional and Administrative Law, Human Rights Law, Family Law and Company Law. Justice Shoman was the first woman to be President of the Belize Bar Association and has served several terms as a representative of the Bar on the General Legal Council. She has served on several boards and in an advisory capacity for several Organizations, including Chairman of the Board of Directors of Belize Telecommunications Limited from 1998 to 2000, the Legal Advisor to the Toledo Maya Cultural Council, Women against Violence, UNIBAM, and has co-authored key legislation including the Domestic Violence Act, the Sexual Offenses Bill and the Sexual Harassment Act. She has appeared on numerous occasions to House Committees to provide comment on Bills before the National Assembly.
Justice Shoman served for seven years, from 2000 to 2007, as Belize’s Ambassador to the United States and as Permanent Representative to the OAS; and Belize’s High Commissioner to Canada and Permanent Representative to ICAO. During her tenure, Shoman was awarded by the United Mexican States ( Mexico) with the Orden del Águila Azteca / The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle in the Grade of Band, on June 16th 2005. This is the highest decoration awarded by that nation to a Foreign National. On November 30, 2005, she was awarded by the Republic of Nicaragua with the Order of Jose de Marcoleta in the Grade of Grand Cross, with highest decoration awarded to a Foreign National.
Lisa M Shoman was Belize’s first female Foreign Minister, and served from 2007 to 2008. She was also an integral member of the Belize/Guatemala Negotiating Team for over a decade. Justice Shoman served as a Senator for over 6 years, and was the Lead Opposition Senator in the National Assembly of Belize from 2012 to 2016. Justice Shoman is the first woman (and the second person) in Belize to serve in all three branches of Government.