Belize’s core public access to justice infrastructure is facing an imminent crisis, as the nation’s Association of Defense Attorneys has announced a major work stoppage starting August 1 over long-unaddressed inadequate pay for court-appointed legal aid work.
The professional body, whose members handle roughly 95% of all state-assigned criminal defense cases through Belize’s legal aid system, confirmed Tuesday that it will not accept any new court assignments under the current outdated fee structure. While ongoing legal aid cases will continue to be represented without disruption to avoid jeopardizing existing defendants’ rights, attorneys say they can no longer take on new work that fails to compensate them fairly for the labor, expertise and ethical liability tied to defending accused individuals in court.
Attorneys emphasized that the action is not an attempt to shut down Belize’s justice system, but rather a urgent push to force the government to honor a commitment made more than 12 months ago to raise the legal aid stipends. For years, attorneys have warned that the current fee schedule has not kept pace with rising costs of living, practice overheads, and the growing complexity of criminal cases, leaving many defense attorneys unable to sustain their legal aid work.
The association has repeated its call for an immediate, comprehensive review of the national legal aid fee structure, warning that equal access to justice for low-income Belizeans depends on a properly resourced system that treats participating attorneys fairly. Without urgent government action, experts warn the upcoming stoppage could lead to massive backlogs in criminal courts, delayed trials, and potentially violated due process rights for hundreds of accused individuals who cannot afford to hire private defense counsel.